Emotional Scar Tissue
by Manic Penguin
Summary: When the JAG teams suffers a loss Harm and Mac try to develop something more while dealing with former partners and a group with a grudge against a member of the JAG staff, someone so connected to the rest that no one is safe.
1. Chapter One

_This story idea came to me at the most random of momentsin the middle of a job interview. Of course I screwed the interview up 'cause I couldn't stop thinking about this idea and as soon as I got home I started writing. And I wonder why I don't have a job._

_Note: I am a west-coast Canadian girl and proud of it. I haven't been to Washington since I was eight, so my knowledge of the area is seriously limited. The hospital is fictional as are the doctors, nurses, and police officers. Rosie's Diner is a dive close to my house that I've moved to Falls Church 'cause I love the place and wanted to incorporate it in my story._

_Disclaimer: If I owned JAG, it's characters, or any of it, Harm and Mac would have gotten together a long time ago, AJ wouldn't have retired, and Meg never would have left... though I'm not sure how I would have worked Mac into the show without Meg leaving... Anyway, I own nothing. If I did I would do anything to make sure that JAG comes back for the next seasonwith David James Elliot._

_Warnings: This story deals with death. This fic is loaded with angst, both from the death of a loved one, and the usual "will they won't they" fun that has comprised the Harm/Mac relationship since day one. I'm a shipper at heart, but I do enjoy torturing the characters a little along the way._

_Rating: Hard PG-13 or light R. R just to be safe. Or whatever R is in the new system._

_Expected Chapters: I have no idea how long this will be. The more replies I get the more I write. That's all there is to it._

_Dedication: To Maureen, the first person who told me to write what I know, and the first person I ever lost. You have been my guardian angel since we met. I just wish you hadn't taken the role so literally._

* * *

No one was entirely sure how it happened. One minute everything was great and Harriet was taking orders and excusing herself to run out and get sandwiches for dinner and the next…

The JAG staff had been preparing for a huge case that was getting more attention from the media than the case warranted. Harm and Mac, with Bud acting as their assistant once again despite the fact that he hadn't been an assistant for several years, were prosecuting General Adam Miles for the rape and murder of five female petty officers who were all under his command. One of the women was the SecNav's niece, making him put a lot of pressure to get a guilty verdict. But Harm and Mac couldn't care less about the politics of the case. They just wanted to make sure that the rapist and murderer was locked away for the rest of his life, if not put to death for his crimes.

Bud, Mac, Harm, and Harriet had decided to stay at the office to work since the Admiral had declared that it was too risky to take files out of JAG headquarters with all the attention the media was giving the case. They had agreed quickly, knowing it was safest and best all around if the files were kept as safe as they could be.

It was almost 2000 hours when Harriet offered to run out and get some dinner for everyone. Normally they would have ordered in, but a ZNN reporter had snuck in the day before under the guise of a pizza delivery guy and the Admiral had put the proverbial kibosh on any further deliveries. The three lawyers had eagerly agreed and had given their orders to the blonde Lieutenant headed out.

When she didn't come back within an hour they started getting worried, Bud especially, but with opening arguments first thing in the morning, none of them had time to worry about anything other than the trial.

Bud's cell phone rang on the table after he had left to run down to records to get a file they hadn't grabbed when they were down there before, so Mac grabbed the phone and answered.

"Lieutenant Robert's phone," she said pleasantly, happy for a distraction, however small, from the depressing case. It was bringing back a lot of horrible memories from her childhood and, even though she had tried to take herself off the case, Harm and the Admiral had said that they needed the best and there was no case that Harm and Mac couldn't win when they worked together.

"May I speak to Bud Roberts?" a gruff man asked.

"He's just left to grab a file, can I take a message?" Mac asked, grabbing a scrap of paper to scribble down a message for Bud.

"Who am I talking to?" the man asked.

"Colonel Sarah MacKenzie. I work with Lieutenant Roberts," Mac said. "With whom am I speaking?"

"My name is Detective Browning with Virginia PD." The man sighed. "Do you know a Miss Harriet Simms?"

Mac tensed up. She had a flash of Harriet bleeding, dying, in the middle of a road, and Mac prayed that it was just an overactive imagination and not her semi-psychic abilities kicking in again. Harm looked up from the notes he was making and he caught Mac's eyes. They were full of fear. "Yes, I do know her. What is this about?" she asked, her voice steady to the man's ear but not to Harm's. He could hear the emotions in her voice.

"Miss Simms was crossing the street outside Rosie's Diner," the detective said, naming the diner that Harriet would have gone to in order to get the food they had requested, "when a dark SUV hit her. Witnesses say that the vehicle sped up before hitting Miss Simms."

Mac gasped, trying to fight back tears. "Is she alright?" she asked praying that Bud wouldn't come back up until she had more information. She didn't want him to get half the story. She didn't want him to get any of the story, but if he had to, she wanted to make sure that he knew everything.

"She was taken to St. Paul's. She is still in ER," Browning said. "I'm afraid I don't know anything more about her condition. But I need to talk to her husband. There's… something not right about this."

Not letting go of the phone, Mac reached for Harm's hand, needing his strength. He held onto her hand tightly, giving her everything he could. "We'll be right there, detective," Mac said before hanging up. "Harriet was hit by a car on her way back from Rosie's. She's at the ER. We have… have to get Bud and get over there," she said, fighting tears.

Harm nodded and grabbed his cover as well as Bud's while Mac grabbed her own cover off the table. They left the files where they were and headed out, locking the conference room door before rushing towards records. Bud was on his way back when they found him. Harm shoved the cover into his friend's hands and led the way to the elevators so they could get down to the garage.

"What's going on?" Bud asked as they got into Harm's SUV.

"Harriet was in an accident on her way back from Rosie's," Mac said gently. "A detective called on your cell while you were down in records. He said there's something weird about this whole thing… I think it might have something to do with the Miles trial."

Bud looked like he was about to break down and Harm sped up a little bit. It had been Harm who had asked the Lieutenants Roberts' to help him and Mac on the Miles case. If Harriet had been hurt because of the case… Harm shook off the thought, not sure he could deal with the emotions of the night as well as guilt. Bud would need him to be strong for him, and Harm knew he could do it if he had to. He had when his father had gone MIA, and he'd only been six at the time. Harm knew he could be strong for someone he loved again.

The rest of the drive to the hospital was a blur for all of them, and, after dropping Bud and Mac out in front of the ER, Harm parked the car and ran in after them.

"I want to know where my wife is," Bud demanded of an angry looking nurse who was trying to find a chart of an impatient doctor.

"Look, buddy, I don't care what your deal is. Just sit your ass down and wait until we get around to you," the nurse snapped before rushing off with a metal chart.

Mac put her hand on Bud's shoulder and whispered something to him before giving him a gentle push toward the waiting area. "What do you think, sneak or pull rank?" she asked Harm once Bud was out of earshot.

"It's not a Naval hospital… sneaking would probably be better," Harm said, his voice barely above a whisper. Mac nodded and headed for the triage desk, hoping Harriet would be listed on the board so they could get her room number and maybe some other information as well. Considering Harriet hadn't been brought in long before she knew it would be unlikely that her file was anywhere other than in the room with her and her doctor.

**Simms. Female. MVA. J. Gallagher, MD. T3.**

Going back over to Harm, Mac said, "Trauma three. Doctor J. Gallagher. I couldn't find anything else."

"Okay, you try to fine the detective and I'll try to find out more about Harriet," Harm whispered before they split up again.

Mac found the detective standing with a pair of uniforms and, after introducing herself, she motioned for him to walk with her to Trauma Three.

"My partner and I are trying a high profile case. Opening arguments start at 0800 tomorrow," Mac explained. "You've probably heard about it. General Adam Miles."

The detective cringed. "You're prosecuting, I hope," Browning said.

"We are. Lieutenants Roberts and Simms are assisting us. My partner, Commander Rabb, and I feel that Harriet's accident may have something to do with the case," Mac said. "Unfortunately we have no evidence of that. It's just… a gut feeling."

"Are your… guts… usually right, Colonel?" the detective asked.

"Almost always," Mac nodded.

They got to the trauma room without any problems. Harm was already there, staring through the window at one of his best friends; unable to recognize the vibrant young woman he had known for so long. Mac took one look at her closest female friend and all the emotions that she had been fighting since answering Bud's phone came pouring out. Harm gathered her in his arms, making sure that she couldn't see anything that was happening in the trauma room, holding her as tightly as she needed him to and keeping her as close as he needed her to be.

Mac managed to get a hold of her emotions and she slowly pulled away from Harm, smiling up at him softly before stepping away, her back to Harriet's room. "Detective Browning, this is my partner, Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr. Harm, this is Detective Browning."

"Nice to meet you," Harm said softly, shaking the man's hand.

"You too. I flew with your father in Vietnam," Browning said. "He was a damn good pilot."

"Yes, he was," Harm said in the tone he always took on when talking about his father. Even after finding out that Harmon Rabb Sr had really and truly died several years before, Mac knew Harm didn't have the kind of closure he longed for.

"The Colonel said you two are prosecuting Adam Miles," Browning said, quickly changing the subject. "Do you really think that Lieutenant Simms' accident is related to the case?"

Harm sighed and dragged his hand down his face. "I think it is a distinct possibility," he said at length, diplomatic as always. "Miles has… some fans…"

"Have any of you received any threats?" Browning asked.

"Everyone at JAG gets death threats daily, detective," Harm said. "We're about as well liked as people from internal affairs."

The detective managed a small smile at that. "Any of the daily threats actually come to acts of violence?" he asked.

"Not really. Once in a while we'll get someone who is really pissed at us. But most of them are just angry people with nothing better to do and no better way to let out their frustrations," Mac said.

Browning was going to continue the interview but a doctor came out, tearing off the sterile coat that was covered in blood. Harriet's blood.

"I assume you are with Miss Simms," the doctor said, throwing his gown and gloves in a biohazard bin.

"We're co-workers and good friends of hers," Mac said, wanting more than anything to reach out and grip Harm's hand. But she didn't.

The doctor looked down at his feet and then back up at the JAG lawyers. "Miss Simms' injuries were extensive. We did everything we could, but she lost too much blood and the trauma was too much for her body," he said gently. "She is wearing a wedding ring. Do you know how to get in touch with her husband?"

Harm nodded sadly. He was glad Bud hadn't come with them to wait outside the trauma room. "We'll tell him. He should hear this from friends, no some stranger."

"Understood. He can go in and see her once she's been… cleaned up a little," the doctor said softly. "I'm truly sorry for your loss," he said gently before heading off down the hallway.

"How are we going to tell Bud that she's gone?" Mac asked Harm desperately. Then another thought struck her. "How is Bud going to tell little AJ?"

"I don't know," Harm said, his voice tight with tears. He pulled Mac back into his arms, partially for her comfort and partially for his, and they stood there holding each other, crying into the wool of dry-cleaned uniforms while the world continued spinning around them.

* * *

Somehow saying the words wasn't difficult. Harm and Mac had led Bud outside where they could talk privately and they had explained what the doctor had told them. Bud broke down, collapsing to the cement in tears, and Mac crouched down and cradled him to her chest, holding him like she did little AJ when she was babysitting and he had a nightmare.

"How… why… sir, ma'am, please say that she isn't really gone," Bud said weakly.

"I'm sorry, Bud," Harm said gently, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder.

* * *

Little AJ was staying with his grandparents for the night because Bud and Harriet hadn't been sure when they would get home. Because of this Harm and Mac took Bud over to Harriet's parents place so he could tell them what happened and so he could be with his son.

Harm was just parking the car when his phone rang. Without even thinking he answered it. "Commander Rabb."

"Where the hell are you? Why is no one working on the Miles case?" Admiral Chegwidden yelled.

"Sir, now is really not a good time," Harm said, getting out of the car so that Bud didn't have to hear him relay the evening's events again.

"What do you mean now is not a good time? You and Colonel MacKenzie are due for opening arguments at 0800 and you both swore to me that you would be in the office until you were sure you had everything prepared for court. Where the hell are you two?" Chegwidden yelled. Harm could just see the veins popping out of his forehead.

"Sir, Harriet was killed tonight," Harm said. "She went out to pick up dinner and she was run down on her way back. She died in the hospital."

"Shit," Chegwidden said, his anger replaced by grief. "Where are you now?"

"Mac and I brought Bud to Harriet's parents. They're watching little AJ tonight," Harm said. "Sir, Mac and I believe that this wasn't an accident."

"Miles?" AJ asked.

"That's our theory," Harm said. "Unfortunately it's nothing more than that."

AJ sighed heavily. "Tell Bud to stay with his in-laws and little AJ tonight then bring Mac with you back to the office. I'll call Sturgis and Carolyn. We'll also need someone from outside the office to run the investigation. Someone we can trust."

"What about Meg Austin? When I spoke with her last she was looking for reassignment," Harm said.

"She was my first thought, too," AJ admitted. "As long as you can assure me her presence won't create any problems…" he said, trailing off because he didn't want to just come out and say what they were both thinking.

Harm, however, knew what the Admiral wasn't saying. Knowing that his Commanding Officer was willing to go above and beyond the call to make sure that the people in his office got along was comforting. "Meg isn't Kate, sir. She won't go out of her way to lead anyone on," Harm said. He didn't need to add that there was never anything beyond teasing and innocent flirtation between himself and Meg while with Kate it had been a bit more than that.

"Good. I'll get in touch with her. Do you have a current number?" AJ asked. Harm gave it to him from memory and they said a quick goodbye and hung up.

Going back to the car Harm got back in the driver's seat. "The Admiral is calling everyone in. Bud, you should stay here with AJ and Harriet's parents tonight," he said gently.

"The Admiral is investigating this?" Bud asked.

"Of course," Harm said. "The whole office is going to."

"What about conflict of interest?" Mac asked.

"He's covered that, too. Remember Meg Austin?" Harm asked. Bud nodded and smiled weakly. He hadn't gotten to know Meg very well but he had always liked her. "He's calling her. She's looking for reassignment and we know we can trust her."

Bud nodded. "Meg is a good person," he said softly. "She was the first person to push me to go to law school."

Harm nodded, remembering his former partner.

"Come on," Mac said gently. "We should get inside before they go to bed."

Bud and Harm nodded soberly and they got out of the car and the three of them approached the door together. Harm shook off the déjà vu feeling of the men coming with a priest to tell his mother that her husband was missing in action and presumed dead. Somehow he knew that this would be easier for the family to deal with. At least they had closure, knowing for sure that their loved one wasn't out there somewhere, possibly hurt, suffering, wanting to get home but unable to. Harriet hadn't died peacefully, and certainly not painlessly, but she was at peace now. Harm hoped the Simms family could appreciate that.

Harriet's father, Arnold, answered the door. His wife, Camille, was trying to get little AJ into his jammies because it was already way past his bedtime. When AJ saw his father he ran to Bud as fast as his little legs would carry him and jumped into his father's arms. "Daddy, daddy, nana's makin me go bed!" he complained.

"Sorry, Bud. He wouldn't wake up from his afternoon nap so he's a little wired now," Arnold said as he invited the trio in out of the cold.

"It's alright," Bud said, cradling his son in his arms.

"Unca Harm! Aunt Mac! Whadda youse doin here?" AJ asked when he spotted his beloved godparents.

"We're here to tuck you in, little guy," Mac said, reaching to take the little boy from his father. "Your daddy needs to do some adult talking," she whispered conspiratorially to him as she and Harm headed off to the stairs so they could take AJ to his bedroom, "then he'll come up and talk to you, 'kay?"

"M'kay," AJ nodded, waving to his grandparents over Mac's shoulder.

Mac and Harm got AJ into his jammies and they tucked him into his new big-boy bed. He was so happy, and they hated knowing that in a matter of minutes Bud would come upstairs and tell AJ that mommy wasn't coming home.

"Aunt Mac, why did daddy look so sad?" AJ asked once he was tucked into bed and had his stuffed bear that was dressed in Navy summer whites—a gift from the staff of JAG upon his birth. 'Judgy' had been with AJ since the day he was born, and had been named after big AJ who the little boy called 'Judgy' because he got confused by calling someone by his own name. Harm was sure little AJ wouldn't have been able to get away with the nickname if the Admiral hadn't been the one to deliver the boy.

Mac sat down on the edge of the bed and ran her fingers through the boy's light coloured baby-fine hair. "That's something your daddy has to tell you himself, sweetheart. But I promise you that everything will be okay, and that Uncle Harm and I will always be here for you."

AJ smiled a bright Roberts smile and hugged 'Judgy'.

Bud came up a few minutes later, his eyes red but free of tears. "Do you want us to leave you two alone?" Harm asked, knowing this was probably going to be the hardest thing his friend ever had to do.

"No. We both need you two here," Bud said honestly. Harm clapped Bud on his shoulder and then took a seat in an old wooden rocking chair. Mac got off the bed and perched herself on the low art table AJ's grandparents had given him, even though he showed little to no interest in art.

"Daddy, whas wrong?" AJ asked when he saw the sadness in his father's eyes.

"Come here, buddy," Bud said, sitting down on the bed and holding his arms out for his son. AJ struggled to get out from under the covers and made his way over to his dad, curling up against the comforting warm body. "AJ, I have something to tell you, and I need you to listen, okay?" Bud said. AJ nodded, knowing that this was a time to be serious. "Your mommy was in an accident tonight…" Bud managed to get out before breaking down. He looked at Mac and Harm desperately and Mac reluctantly stepped up.

"AJ, sweetheart, you know how some people don't pay attention to the signs on the road that say how fast to go?" Mac asked, sitting down on the bed with Bud and AJ. AJ nodded solemnly. "Well your mommy was crossing the street when one of those people came by. They didn't see her and she got hit."

The little boy's bottom lip started quivering. "Is she okay?" he asked carefully.

Mac fought her own tears as she shook her head. "Your mommy died, AJ. She was taken to the hospital and the doctors did everything they could, but she didn't make it, sweetheart." AJ started crying then, burying his face in his father's chest. Bud held onto the little boy with all his strength.

AJ cried himself to sleep and Mac helped Bud tuck him in again. "I'm just going to stay here with him," Bud said in a whisper.

Mac nodded. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call," she said tenderly.

"Thank you. Both of you," Bud said as the Arnold and Camille came into the room. Harm and Mac said quick goodbyes and slipped out of the house, knowing that the family needed to be together.

They got to the car and Mac collapsed into the passenger seat. Harm reached over and pulled her into a tight embrace, knowing that words weren't what Sarah MacKenzie needed at that moment. Mac clung to Harm, crying into his shoulder. Life in a time of war was also a time of loss, especially for military families, but Mac never expected to lose her friends who were in the States.

After pulling herself together, Mac pulled back a little and smiled at Harm. "Thank you," she whispered, resting her forehead against his.

Harm nuzzled her nose affectionately. "I'm always here for you, Sarah," he whispered, intentionally using her first name. Shivers ran through Mac's body when she heard Harm caress her given name with his sensuous lips. She wanted so badly to kiss him, to take comfort in his arms. But Mac held back. She didn't want the furtherance of their relationship to stem from death.

"We… we should get to the office," Mac said, awkwardly extricating herself from the arms of the man she had loved for years. "The Admiral is waiting for us."

Confused but alert, Harm settled into the driver's seat and set about the task of driving to Falls Church, Virginia.

* * *

_What did you think? I know it was kinda choppy. The next chapter will be better, I promise._

_M_


	2. Chapter Two

Harm guided Mac out of the elevator with a hand at the small of her back. His partner was just barely more alert than a zombie, grief, hunger, and exhaustion coming together to take all the fight out of Sarah MacKenzie. She had dozed for a few minutes in the car and Harm could tell she was seriously in need of a cappuccino, preferably in a nice warm bed, as she had once said to him. He hoped she would settle for a chair and stale coffee laden with sugar from the break room.

Sturgis and Carolyn had already arrived and were in the Admiral's office. Jennifer Coates was searching through a filing cabinet and fighting a yawn as she told them to go right in. Harm and Mac stood at attention when they came in the room and the Admiral shot them a harsh glare. "There is no need to stand on ceremony tonight," he said before indicating for them to sit down in the two remaining leather club chairs.

"Have you been able to reach Meg?" Harm asked as he poured himself and Mac coffee from the tray on the sideboard. The Admiral always had good, strong coffee, courtesy of Petty Officer Jennifer Coates.

"She'll be landing at Dulles at 0545. Harm, you can pick her up and bring her here, right?" Chegwidden asked. Harm nodded. "I also called the SecNav and he's going to send over papers in the morning to make this all official, including her permanent transfer to this office." Harm nodded again. He was incredibly relieved that someone he trusted implicitly would be running the investigation. He was also looking forward to seeing his old friend again and working with her once more. "There isn't much we can do tonight, I'm afraid. Until all this is settled I don't want any of you to go anywhere alone, understood?"

A four-part harmony of 'yes sir' was the Admiral's response.

"Harm, get a continuance in the Miles case and try to get that bastard locked up in solitary until we've sorted through this mess," Chegwidden said. Harm nodded. He had had a feeling that would be his task for the morning. "Sturgis, I need you to take over all of Bud's cases. Get continuances where you can and use sources other than Bud wherever possible. I don't want him to have to worry about anything other than his family right now," the SEAL continued. Sturgis nodded solemnly. "Carolyn, Mac, I need you two to make sure that everything that could possibly be pertinent to Harriet's death is ready for Meg when she gets here." They nodded in response, both glad they wouldn't have to wade through the paperwork alone. "Now, I know this may be impossible, but I want you all to go home and get some sleep. Tell Coates to do the same."

The four lawyers stood up and frowned as the Admiral sat down at his desk. "Aren't you going to go home, sir?" Mac asked, worried about their friend more than their CO. Two-star Admiral Chegwidden, Navy SEAL, JAG, could deal with whatever life threw at him. But AJ Chegwidden was every bit as human as the rest of the world, and Mac knew that he took losses like this very personally. After Laura Delaney had been killed outside his McLean home she had actually become afraid that he might do something permanent after getting revenge on Osborne.

"Sleep is not on the top of my priority list, Colonel," he replied distantly. When he realized no one had moved, he looked up and said, "I thought I told you four to get some rest."

"Yes, you did, sir," Mac said. "And your advice has never led any of us astray. So you might want to consider taking your own advice."

The look she got in response told her all she needed to know.

He wasn't going _anywhere_ until they found Harriet's murderer.

This had become one of his obsessions.

If the son of a bitch hadn't just killed one of her best friends, Mac might have felt sorry for the person who was the target of Admiral AJ Chegwidden's ire.

Without another word the lawyers filed out. Jennifer Coates was sitting at her desk, clearly exhausted and grief-stricken. "Jen, do you want a ride home? The Admiral ordered us all to get some rest," Harm said.

"That would be nice, sir," Coates said. She was dead on her feet.

"Carolyn, Sturgis, you two headed home?" Mac asked.

"Not eagerly," Sturgis said.

"I don't think I'll get any sleep," Carolyn put in.

Mac looked at Harm who shrugged. "I think we all need to stick together tonight. Slumber party at Harm's?" Mac said. She would have offered up her place but she didn't keep any alcohol on hand and wasn't sure how well stocked her fridge was. Food and drinks were definitely required for the next few hours.

"You good with that plan?" Sturgis asked Harm.

"Completely," Harm said. "Jen, you in? The only stipulation is that there are no ranks, sir's, or ma'am's."

"Sure," the petty officer said, not used to being invited to hang out with the Commanders and the Colonel. When the whole JAG gang went to McMurphy's she went, and enjoyed spending time with the people she worked with without the constraints of their uniforms, but she wasn't used to the almost intimate, though thoroughly nonsexual, atmosphere that this 'slumber party' implied.

While the officers collected their covers, coats, and briefcases, Jennifer knocked tentatively on the Admiral's door.

"I thought I told you all to go home," he snapped as he pulled the door open.

"You did, sir. I just wanted to see if you needed anything before I left," Coates said.

"I'm fine, Coates," Chegwidden said apologetically. He really liked the girl and she didn't deserve to take the brunt of his anger, though she did without complaint.

"Alright, sir. I'll see you in the morning… later in the morning," Coates said awkwardly. Chegwidden nodded.

Harm came back first and looked at the Admiral. "We're all going to my place… none of us really want to be alone right now," he said. "You're welcome to join us."

"Thank you for the offer, but I think I'll just stay here," AJ said, touched that the officers under his command cared so much about him. Being the boss rarely allowed him the opportunity to actively be a part of the JAG family, and when he got the chance he truly treasured the time.

"Alright," Harm said. He obviously hadn't expected the Admiral to accept his offer. "The offer stands, though," he said before leaving to join the others by the elevators.

They all headed down to the parking garage and split up, Harm and Coates in his car, Mac in her own, and Carolyn and Sturgis in their respective vehicles. The plan was for all of them to go home, pick up the clothes they would need for the morning, and then meet at Harm's. Since Mac kept a couple of uniforms at Harm's, as he did at her apartment, Mac had volunteered to pick up some food on her way.

Harm didn't like how they were all splitting up, if only for a little while, but everyone assured him that they would be extremely careful and that they would call if there was even the slightest sign of trouble.

Within an hour everyone was at Harm's and there hadn't been any incidents. There was a collective sigh of relief as they all sat down in the living room together, dressed in civvies, food cooking in the kitchen and drinks chilling in the fridge.

"This is really a beautiful apartment," Carolyn said, glancing around.

"Thanks," Harm said. "I did most of the work myself. It's… kinda a work in progress, though."

"How long have you lived here?" Coates asked, biting her tongue to stave off the 'sir' that was begging to come out.

"About six years," Harm said. "Mac still thinks I'm crazy," he added.

"The first time I was ever here was thirty-two minutes and forty-eight seconds after we met, Harm, and the place looked like a war zone, only without the fun," Mac said. "You didn't even have your fridge plugged in. You just stuck a cooler inside it and buried your beer in bags of ice."

Harm rolled his eyes and Sturgis laughed. It was such a Harm thing to do—save space by keeping the cooler inside the fridge while foregoing the pleasures of electricity to do other things around the apartment.

"You only knew each other for half an hour before he got you into his apartment?" Carolyn asked Mac, her eyebrow arched and her voice laced with innuendo.

It was Mac's turn to roll her eyes. "We met and were sent on an investigation right away. I had my bag packed, but Flyboy here needed to make sure he had his Cubans with him."

"My cigars were the last thing on my mind," Harm protested.

"Yeah. Right," Mac scoffed. It felt wrong to be smiling, but they all knew that Harriet, one of the happiest people they knew, wouldn't want them to be depressed. "You packed more cigars than you did clothes, Harm."

"I wasn't expecting to have to go undercover in civvies, Mac. You could have filled me in on what we were walking into before we left DC," Harm replied.

"What were you investigating?" Sturgis asked. He had been told the story of how they met in the Rose Garden after Harm was awarded his first Distinguished Flying Cross, but he hadn't been told anything about their first case together.

Harm and Mac shared a look and then Mac sighed and nodded to Harm to take over the narration. "The Declaration of Independence was being transported to have some restoration work done and a Marine Colonel named Matt O'Hara and his… followers, I guess you could call them… stole it to point out some serious issues within the government."

"Which could have been dealt with in another way, but my uncle never was one to go for the subtle approach," Mac put in.

"Uncle?" Carolyn asked, intrigued. She had always preferred hearing about the romantic way they met instead of hearing about the cases they investigated. Even though she had a crush on the aviator, Carolyn knew that his heart belonged to Mac and that she would be burned at the stake if she ever made a move on the hunky Commander Rabb.

"My mother's older brother," Mac nodded.

"Once we ditched Clay and his CIA friends Mac and I went to Red Rock Mesa where Matt was holed up," Harm said.

"And I took Harm hostage," Mac grinned. She still couldn't believe that Harm had trusted her after she pulled a gun on him.

"Way to build trust, Marine," Sturgis teased. Mac threw a pillow at him.

Harm and Mac relayed the rest of the adventure, slipping in comments about certain things and teasing each other good-naturedly. After the tale was told Harm went to check on the late dinner he had made for everyone and Mac started quizzing Sturgis about some of Harm's embarrassing stories from the Academy. A story including Bill the goat urged Mac to tell the tale of the poor mascot's demise and subsequent exhumation and replacement, a tale that had Sturgis laughing so hard he was almost in tears.

"Anyone want anything to drink?" Harm asked as he handed Mac a plate with a large steak on it. In deference to his partner's carnivorous eating habits he had started stocking meat in his freezer so he would be prepared for their dinner-and-work sessions that usually lasted until the early hours of the morning.

"Beer," Sturgis said.

"Beer's good," Carolyn said.

Harm looked at Jennifer who was looking down at her hands. "You're allowed to drink, Jen," he said warmly. "As long as you don't show up at work hung over I doubt the Admiral will ever even find out."

Jennifer smiled softly and requested a beer as well. Harm looked at Mac who asked for a soda before digging into her steak. Nothing could curb the appetite of his beloved Marine.

Coming back to the living room with three beers and two sodas—when Mac was around Harm made a point of not imbibing, partially because he felt it was a little rude, partially to support her continued sobriety, and partially because he needed all his mental faculties fully intact to keep up with the kick-ass Jarhead he knew and loved—Harm picked at his salad, not feeling all that hungry but knowing he needed to eat something since he hadn't had anything since the half a stale doughnut he had munched on while driving to work early that morning. The other three had declined dinner, preferring to stick to drowning their sorrows in the comfort food of chocolate and chips that Mac had supplied.

A little before five Harm went to take a shower and get dressed, careful not to wake Jennifer who had fallen asleep not long after finishing her beer or Sturgis who had taken to snoring a few minutes after Jennifer. Carolyn had found a book that interested her and had curled up by a window to read, and Mac had taken Harm's bed where she had slid under the covers and surrounded herself in Harm's exquisitely masculine scent and had drifted into dreamland a little after four. Harm finished his shower, shaving while bathing to save some time, and after he got dressed he went to the kitchen to see if he had anything he could bring with him for a semblance of a breakfast. Settling on fruit, Harm grabbed a couple of apples before he said a quick goodbye to Carolyn and made sure that the alarm was set so that the exhausted group didn't sleep in, and he left his loft to head to the airport.

Meg's flight landed on time and she got off almost immediately. Harm once again thanked his genes for allowing him to be so tall and he saw his ex-partner's blonde head and soft smile right away.

Stopping a few feet in front of him, Meg stood at attention and saluted. Harm rolled his eyes and saluted back before pulling Meg into a tight embrace. She returned the hug immediately, holding him for a while longer than was generally deemed proper.

"How're you holding up?" Meg asked as Harm took her garment bag from her. One of his gentlemanly habits that had annoyed her back when they were partners until she realized he wasn't trying to be the big strong manly man but was really just being chivalrous.

"I think I'm still in denial about it all," Harm admitted. "I mean, I've known Harriet for years. I was there when she and Bud met, I saw their first kiss, I was there while they dated, I was Bud's best man at their wedding… I was a little too involved for comfort when little AJ was born… and now she's just gone."

Meg rubbed his back comfortingly. "What about Bud? How's he doing? And their son… I can't remember his name…"

"AJ, more commonly called 'little AJ' so that people don't confuse him and the Admiral," Harm said. Meg nodded and Harm sighed heavily. "They're both heartbroken. Mac and I left Bud at Harriet's parent's last night with little AJ," Harm said. "God, I can't imagine how he's going to deal without his mom," he said softly.

"I'm not saying that it's a great way to grow up, but you and I both did pretty okay with only one parent," Meg pointed out as they approached his car. She was glad he had decided against getting another 'Vette after his had been stolen. She had never liked that car. "I'm sure Bud will make sure his son has a good life."

Harm nodded. He knew Bud would do anything for little AJ. He also knew that AJ would always have his godfather and godmother if his father wasn't enough support. "I… don't really want to talk about this, if that's aright, Meg," Harm said as he closed the back of the car where he'd set Meg's belongings down.

"Okay," Meg said. She caught Harm by the arm before he could go around to the driver's side of the SUV. "Just, when you are ready to talk? I'm here. Any time; day or night."

"I know," Harm said, dropping a kiss on the top of her head and hugging her briefly before moving once again to get in the car. Mac, Meg, the Admiral, Bud, his mother, and his Grandma Sarah were the only people that Harm knew he could always count on, no matter what. They had never let him down, and he knew they never would.

Meg waited until Harm had gotten them out of the horror known as Dulles airport's parking 'arena' before she spoke again. "This might be totally inappropriate, and if it is, just tell me, okay?"

"What?" Harm asked, immediately concerned. Not much made Meg Austin uncomfortable. Other than their first case together when they were in a submarine the only time he had really seen her act nervously was when she was trying to figure out the code to disarm a bomb while he drove up a mountain road and Kate Pike argued with her about what the correct code for the forms for visiting officers was.

"I just… I know these aren't the best of circumstances, but it's really good to see you again, Harm," Meg said with a shy smile.

Harm smiled back, a full-fledged Flyboy smile. "It's really good to see you, too, Meg," he replied honestly. "Circumstances notwithstanding."

* * *

_I can't seem to write a JAG story without bringing Meg back. I really tried this time, but then I realized that even cops aren't allowed to investigate the death of someone from their squad without at least one impartial person to lead the investigation, and, since I felt the JAG family would want someone they trusted to head up the investigation, I immediately thought of Meg._

_I'm planning on exploring the Harm-Mac relationship in what I feel is a different way than is normally used in fanfiction. There will be some very OOC moments, not just for the heros, but also for other members of the mismatched family, and several serious topics will be touched on and explored more indepthly before this tale is told._

_If you have any comments, please feel free to reply, but I also love getting e-mails from readers. It's a more open way of communicating thoughts about stories or whatever, and I really want to know what my readers think of my work._

_my e-mail address you._

_M_


	3. Chapter Three

_Okay, first of all, I have to apologize for the way I wrote the nurse from the hospital. I was trying to make her sound tired and busy but it came out angry and bitchy. The outcome was completely unintentional._

_Second, some notes about this fic:_

_(A) this will be a Harm/Mac fic. I have a Harm/Meg fic in the works and I should have it posted by the end of the month if all goes according to plan. I love the character of Meg Austin and I wish she hadn't left the show (though I am very happy with the character of Mac as well) and when I was trying to think of someone to run the investigation she and Kate Pike were the only ones who came to mind, and Kate always seems to cause more problems than she's worth, both on the show and in fanfiction._

_(B) Carolyn DID pass the Bar Exam, and that whole ordeal with her not really being a lawyernever happened._

_(C) Jennifer Coates is (at least in this story) studying psychology in school. I don't know if this is a fact from the show or not, but I readin another fic that she was studying to become a psychologist and, as I myself am working toward my degree in psychology so I'm sort of injecting myself into Jennifer's character._

_(D) Little AJ Roberts will be called 'little AJ' all through this fic, and any others of mine that he is in, and AJ Chegwidden will be either Chegwidden, the Admiral, or AJ Chegwidden. I know the writers were being cute and sentimental when they had Bud and Harriet name their son after the Admiral, but honestly it's a pain for writing, especially in the upcoming chapter where they're both in the same conversation._

_(E) Bud still has both his legs, though he did have a close call in that minefield. No leg-loss in this fic._

_(F) Grandma Sarah is alive (though sheis not in this chapter she will be in later parts of this fic and I wanted to get this note out of the way)._

_(G) Manolo Blahnik's are definitely not mine. I can barely afford a mocha every morning, let alone those amazing shoes._

_(H) I'm a pop-culture reference junkie (too many episodes of Buffy andGilmore Girls, I guess) and I probably unconsciously reference a boatload of shows, books, movies, songs, et cetera, every time I write something._

_I think that's it for now._

_Oh, one more thing. When the show ends in... two more episodes? I will continue writing, regardless of the outcome. I feel there are still a ton of stories that need to be told and I want to make sure that the ones I can think of get out there._

_Thank you._

_M_

* * *

Usually when she woke up Sarah MacKenzie would jump out of bed, go for a run, shower, dress, eat, and then head off to work with plenty of time to spare. She was a morning person, despite her bouts with insomnia, and she couldn't remember the last time she had honestly felt like hitting the snooze button and rolling over for a few more minutes of sleep. 

As it was a few more hours didn't feel like they'd be enough for Mac.

She had slept in Harm's apartment before. They had shared hotel rooms when cases warranted it and they crashed on each other's couches when they worked too late or just needed to not be alone for the night. But she had never been brave enough to sleep in his bed, surrounded by his scent and wrapped up in sheets that had caressed his skin. There were some lines that they just didn't cross. Unspoken, unwritten rules that they abided by. Rules and regulations that went beyond their jobs. These were the laws of best friends.

But with the death of one of her best friends and the litany of changes that the next morning would bring, Mac had felt vulnerable and she had found herself curled up with her head on Harm's pillow before she even realized what she was doing.

The only thing missing was Harm himself, who, Mac suspected, hadn't slept at all and had been punishing himself for some obscure misstep that he felt had led to Harriet Simms-Roberts tragic death.

After lingering in the bed for as long as she could, Mac took a quick shower and got dressed before going to wake everyone else. Harm had obviously left to pick up Meg from the airport, and Mac was fighting the urge to call him to make sure that he was alright, to make sure for herself that nothing had happened to him. Mac was hurt by the fact that Harm had been the one who hadn't wanted them to all take their own cars home the night before, yet first thing in the morning he headed off on his own without so much as saying goodbye to her. Logically she knew that, had she been awake, he would have, and that he hadn't woken her because he cared about her too much to disturb her while she got the few hours of sleep she could, but it hurt her heart that Harm hadn't told her when he was leaving.

The phone rang and Mac instinctively picked it up. "Hello?" she said, hoping that the others wouldn't be too noisy when they started moving around.

"Is Harm there?" a female voice asked.

"Not at the moment, he went to pick a friend up at the airport," Mac said. Jealousy reared it's ugly head, making her wonder how often Harm got early morning wake up calls from women other than herself. "Can I take a message?"

"No, that's alright. I'll call back later," the woman said before hanging up.

Mac frowned, staring at the phone for a minute before setting it back down in the cradle. "Everything alright?" Carolyn asked.

"I think so," Mac said, unable to shake off the weird feeling the call had given her. "Um… the bathroom is back there," she said, pointing through Harm's bedroom. "There are extra toothbrushes in the medicine cabinet… towels are in the linen closet… um… anything else should be under the sink…" she said distractedly.

"The only thing I want right now is more sleep," Sturgis said through a yawn.

"Coffee might help," Jennifer said, moving toward the kitchen. "I'll make it… um… does anyone know where the Commander keeps his coffee?" she asked.

"Freezer, third shelf in a blue glass container," Mac said. "The filters are in the cupboard above the coffee maker," she added before the Petty Officer could ask.

"Exactly how often are you here, Mac?" Sturgis teased.

Mac rolled her eyes. After working so closely with Harm—and just plain being so close to him—Mac was used to being on the receiving end of comments that indicated that people thought there was more going on between them. It had stopped bothering her a long time before, though sometimes it started to get to her, especially when her feelings for Harm started making their way towards the surface again.

Like they were right at that moment.

Normally Mac could keep her temper under control, but with her lack of sleep and the emotional night she still didn't want to admit had happened, Sarah MacKenzie snapped.

"Sturgis would you just drop it already, alright? You know Harm and I spend time together outside of the office. So what if I know where he keeps his coffee? I know that you keep a stash of sunflower seeds on your kitchen counter in that ceramic pot your sister's kid made for you in art class. I know that Carolyn has an insane amount of Manolo's that would make _Carrie Bradshaw_ jealous. I know that Bud keeps Girl Scout cookies in his desk drawer at work. I know that the Admiral has more weapons in his house than he has forks. I know things about people at the office that no one else knows, that they don't even know that I know. Just because I know personal things about Harm or Harm's apartment does not mean anything beyond the fact that Harm is my best friend and that I've spent time here before," Mac said, her voice and gaze deadly.

With that Mac walked over to a nook by a bank of windows and she sat down, taking comfort in the familiar surroundings.

"What the hell are 'Manolo's' and who the hell is _Carrie Bradshaw_?" Sturgis asked Jennifer as she made a large pot of coffee.

"Manolo Blahnik's are shoes, Commander. Very expensive shoes. Minimum four hundred USD, though they can go up into the thousands. And _Carrie Bradshaw_ is Sarah Jessica Parker's character on Sex and the City. Manolo's are her shoe of choice," Jennifer said with a small smile. "I'm guessing you don't watch too much HBO, sir."

Sturgis shot her a look and then headed off to take a shower as Carolyn had finished up in the bathroom.

An hour later Mac was parking her 'Vette in her space beside Harm's SUV in the mostly-full JAG parking lot. Harriet's parking spot was conspicuously empty. Jennifer Coates was sitting next to Mac, looking like a lost little girl. Harriet had always been good to everyone, but even more so to Jennifer, especially in her first few months working at JAG.

"You don't have to be here today, Jen, you know that, right?" Mac said gently. "The admiral can get by without you, if you need some time…"

"I know, but I need to work," Jennifer said. "I need to do something… to keep from thinking about it… I need to help find who did this. If you and the Commanders will allow it."

"We not only allow it, but we demand it," Mac said, a small smile spreading across her lips. "C'mon. We've got a long day ahead of us."

Jennifer groaned as she slid out of the car and secured her cover on her head. Her light brown hair was still wet as Harm's apartment lacked a hair dryer, and the wind and her damp hair made her shiver. At least, that's what she convinced herself caused the tremor.

Mac walked with Jen until she reached the floor where the courtrooms were housed. She had a continuance to plead for, a tough sell because the case hadn't been going her way anyway. Jen took Mac's coat and wished her luck before continuing to the elevators. Mac headed for the courtroom where she would hopefully win her battle.

Her spirits sank, however, when she saw a slim blonde woman in Naval dress hug Harm as he came out of a courtroom at the end of the hall.

"She had to be blonde, didn't she?" Mac muttered, making a beeline for the door to her courtroom, praying that Harm didn't see her.

Once she was in her seat at the defence table, Mac relaxed a bit. In court she felt safe, Harm's H-and-K _demonstration_ notwithstanding, and she could easily make sense of things when she was in a room where the rules were firmly set and everyone abided by them. Outside of the courtroom, however, was where emotions and life stuff made things messy.

"Morning, Colonel," the prosecutor, Lieutenant Commander James Holtz, said pleasantly. He and Mac got along alright, though they rarely worked together as he was assigned to the JAG office at Norfolk and was only in DC because of this case.

"Commander," Mac nodded, not up to much more.

"Are you alright?" Holtz asked as he set down his briefcase and cover.

Mac sighed and handed him the form she had filled out requesting a continuance. He read it over and frowned. "Continuance due to personal reasons. What the hell are you trying to pull, Mac?" he asked.

Taking a slow breath so she didn't lose it like she had that morning with Sturgis, Mac said, "A very close friend of mine was killed last night. It would not be fair for my client to have me as his representation at this moment as I cannot defend him to the best of my abilities." She looked at him, hoping to appeal to him personally. "Please don't fight this, James."

Holtz handed her back the paper and nodded. "As long as Admiral Stevens is alright with it, I won't fight it."

"Thank you," Mac said in a whisper before her client was led in. A minute later they all rose and stood at attention until Admiral Stevens uttered an 'at ease' while sitting down on the bench.

"Commander Holtz, is the prosecution ready to continue?" Stevens asked.

"At this time I must defer to Colonel MacKenzie who has a motion for a continuance prepared," Holtz said.

Stevens looked at Mac who handed the motion to the Sergeant who had come to retrieve it. "Personal reasons? You will have to be more specific, Colonel," Stevens said.

Mac sighed softly. "A co-worker and close friend of mine, Lieutenant Harriet Simms-Roberts, was killed late last night. I have already discussed this with Commander Holtz and he had no arguments against this."

"Is this true?" Stevens asked Holtz.

"It is, your honour."

Stevens nodded. "Continuance granted. Court will reconvene on April 3 at 0800," he said before banging his gavel and motioning for the defendant to be led away. Mac would go talk to him in the brig later.

Ten minutes later Mac was up in her office, trying to delay the moment when she would have to face Harm again. Her emotions were too close to the surface to be in any kind of contact to Harmon Rabb Jr, especially when the beautiful blonde litigater was sticking to him like a wet flight suit.

Mac had buried herself in answering e-mails when the knock on her door—that she had been expecting but dreading—came. "Enter," she said somewhat reluctantly. She knew it would be Harm and Meg.

"Hey, Mac. Did you get your continuance?" Harm asked, coming into the office with Meg at his side.

"Continued until April third," Mac said without looking up. "My client will not be happy."

"How'd Holtz take it?" Harm asked.

"Fine. He was very understanding. What about you? Any luck getting Miles sent to solitary?" Mac asked, still refusing to look away from her computer screen.

"Not enough evidence to warrant it," Harm said, his voice heavy with regret. "All communications will be monitored, visitors have to be cleared by the warden, all visits will be monitored and done through glass, yadda, yadda, yadda. Not what I was hoping for."

"Yeah, well, Morris has never really gotten over that impromptu H-and-K demo. You should expect him to be a hard sell by now," Mac said. Finally unable to hold off any longer she looked up. "Hello," she said to Meg. "Meg Austin, I assume."

Meg nodded. "It's nice to finally meet you," Meg said.

"Likewise," Mac said, forcing a smile onto her face.

Harm noticed that Mac's smile was somewhat less than genuine and he turned to Meg immediately. "Why don't you go check in with the Admiral before the staff meeting?" he suggested to his former partner. Meg nodded and excused herself and Harm closed Mac's door before sitting down across from her. "Okay, spill."

"Spill what?" Mac asked innocently.

"Whatever is bothering you," Harm said. "And don't you dare say it's Harriet because I know that whatever is going on with you goes far beyond that," he added, knowing where she would turn to hide.

Mac sighed and sat back. "I don't honestly know what it is. I just… feel a little intimidated by Meg, I think," she admitted.

"Intimidated? How? Has she done something?" Harm asked, confused.

"No, she hasn't done anything. We've spoken a total of eleven words to each other and you were there for every syllable," Mac said.

"Then what is it?"

Mac sighed and scrubbed her hands over her face before looking into the stormy eyes of her partner. "I guess it's just that… I've never seen you as excited about the prospect of working with me as you were when you heard that Meg was on her way here," Mac said. "I'm not going to even try to guess what kind of relationship you and Meg had when you were partners, but I thought that you enjoyed working with me. I never thought that you felt like I was a replacement, even when you compared me to Meg in the beginning. But now… I feel like I don't have a place… in your world."

Harm smiled softly. "Mac, you are not a replacement, you never were. When Meg left… it was sudden, but life in the Navy is anything but stable, you know that as well as anyone. I knew I would be getting a new partner when Meg left, and I can't tell you how lucky I feel that I got you," he said honestly. "I may have been excited about Meg coming back, but that's because she's a good friend, a good investigator, and, yes, I have missed working with her. But would I give up working side by side with you? Never." He stood up and circled her desk, pulling Mac up into a hug that she willingly fell into. "And as for you not having a place in my world? That is insane. You have the top spot, Mac."

"I thought flying had that spot," Mac said softly.

"You're more important, Mac. Don't ever doubt that," Harm said honestly. He gave her a final squeeze and then pulled back to look into her eyes. "No more doubts, okay?"

Mac nodded. "No doubts," she agreed.

"So you gonna stop hiding in your office now?" Harm asked with a lopsided smile. Mac swatted at him and then nodded. "Good. I've dealt with my cases, and the Admiral wants me to help you and Carolyn sort through the cases Harriet worked on in the past year."

Mac sighed. "Bring on the paper cuts," she muttered, turning off her computer and following Harm out of her office.

While they walked Mac debated on whether or not to tell Harm about the woman who had called that morning. Her jealousy was already reaching critical mass despite Harm's assurances and she wasn't sure if she could deal with another blast from Harm's past—or, worse, a current flame—coming into the picture and pushing her out of what she felt was her rightful place next to Harm.

Harm put his hand on the small of her back, leading her into the conference room they were going to be working out of. The feeling of his hand against her back, even through the layers of clothing she was wearing, convinced Mac to keep her mouth shut.

And she didn't feel even the faintest hint of guilt.

"How did you sleep last night?" Harm asked gently as they sat down in front of two of the three stacks of files on the table.

"Fine," Mac said noncommittally. "I mean, once I fell asleep I slept great. It was the getting to sleep that was hard," she said with a slight blush. She looked over at him. "Sorry for taking your bed."

"It was not a problem. You were exhausted and the couches suck for sleeping on," Harm said. "Something you can attest to." Mac sighed. He was right. His couches did suck for sleeping. Sleeping on military-issue cots was more comfortable.

"Even so, I should have at least asked before taking over your entire bed," Mac said.

"Mac, you don't have to ask to use anything of mine. Really. You were tired, the bed was there, the logical conclusion is you taking the bed," Harm said. "Look, Mac, I didn't ask you how you slept because I was subtly trying to make you feel guilty for using my bed. I asked you because I know you haven't been sleeping since we got assigned the Miles case and yesterday was… one of the top ten worst days of my life, and I'm sure it ranked right up there for you, too. That's it. No ulterior motive, no guilt trip. Just a simple question coming from a place of concern for my best friend."

Mac smiled softly. "In that case, I slept very well, thank you," she said. "I could have used a few more hours, but that's my only complaint."

Harm reached over and rubbed his hand over her back for a minute before turning to the files. Mac turned her attention to the files as well, trying to see if any of the people involved—the victims, the accused, the ones found guilty, family members, friends, anyone—would have reason to kill Harriet.

It was pointless, though.

"Why are we wasting our time here?" Mac asked an hour later. Carolyn had joined them shortly after they had started and was going through the third stack at a steady pace. "If anyone involved in these cases is angry enough to kill, Harriet wouldn't have been the target. You, me, Bud, Carolyn, Sturgis… the lawyers, the ones investigating. We would have been the targets. Not someone who is office-bound and didn't even come in contact with the majority of the people involved in these cases. Unless…"

"Unless what?" the Admiral asked from the doorway. Meg was standing just a little behind him, obviously feeling a little awkward. Jennifer Coates was standing next to Meg. The three lawyers moved to stand at attention but Chegwidden waved them off. "What are you thinking, Mac?" he asked, going to sit down at the table. Meg sat down next to Harm and Jennifer sat next to the Admiral.

"Just that maybe this isn't about Harriet directly," Mac said. "I hate even thinking this," she said softly, "but maybe killing Harriet was meant to be punishment for one of us."

"Probably Bud," Harm put in regretfully.

"Harriet and little AJ are the most important people in the world to him," Chegwidden nodded. He took a slow breath. "Alright. I'll send some security over to the Simms residence. If you're right about this, Mac, I doubt this son of a bitch will stop with one death."

Mac emotionally collapsed into herself at the thought of losing her godson. There were no outward signs of her distress, though, so her breakdown went unnoticed by all.

"How involved is Bud in the Miles case? You're still thinking that this all comes back to that, right?" Meg asked.

Harm nodded. "I'm sure Miles is the key," he said. "And without Bud's work we wouldn't have been able to pin down Miles as the guy behind the attacks. Bud found more incriminating evidence from old crimes scenes and reports from NCIS than I thought possible."

"Alright. As much as I hate to do this, I'm going to have to send Bud away for a while," Chegwidden said, rubbing his temples.

"Sir, are you sure that's the wisest course of action at this point?" Mac asked.

"It's the only course of action at this point, Colonel," Chegwidden said regretfully. "If he stays in Washington Bud will put everyone he cares about in peril. But if he's gone we might be able to draw this bastard out somehow."

"What about his son?" Carolyn asked.

Chegwidden sighed. "That, ultimately, is up to Bud."

"Would you be transferring Bud to a base where he and AJ could stay together?" Harm asked. Moving across the country would be a small price to pay if it meant keeping Bud and AJ alive and, though Harm would miss his friend and godson, he would do anything for the safety of the people he loved.

"No. I'm transferring Bud to a carrier. The more remote the better," Chegwidden said. "I hate to do it, but little AJ will be safer away from his father right now," he added before anyone else had to say it.

There was silence for a minute before Meg spoke again. "Since Miles has an airtight alibi for all of yesterday and early this morning, he obviously wasn't driving the car," she said. "We need a list of his associates as well as his financial records."

"You think this was a hit and not just a revenge murder?" Harm asked. It was easier to pretend that this was just another case, that the victim wasn't one of their own, wasn't a part of their tight-knit JAG family. Denial was a loyal friend that had been with Harmon Rabb Jr since he was a child.

"If it was about revenge Miles would have found a way to do this himself," Meg said. It was clear that it hurt her to be the one to point these things out. "Revenge means nothing if you get someone else to do the dirty work for you."

Jennifer sighed heavily before speaking for the first time. "Unfortunately Commander Austin is correct," she said. "Though Miles has yet to go through a thorough psych profile, from what I know about him it's obvious that he would not get the satisfaction he wants from reflected murder."

"Petty Officer Coates will be assisting us from a psychology standpoint," Chegwidden explained. Though Jennifer had yet to get her degree she had enough knowledge to point them in the right direction and, should they need professional opinions, she could help them find psychologists who would be good witnesses in court. It was the only way he could think of to get Jennifer actively involved in the investigation without relegating her to hours upon hours of searching for files and fetching coffee.

"Do you think Miles has some sort of mental or emotional deficiency?" Carolyn asked.

"I can't say for sure without more data," Jennifer said regretfully. "There may have been a trauma during childhood, abuse by someone he trusted, probably a female. Alcohol and drug abuse by either the parents or by Miles himself could also be a factor. He could be seeing the rapes and murders he's committed as payback from things that were done to him when he was younger. The women all looked alike, right?"

"They were all between five-two and five-six, blonde hair, blue eyes, light coloured skin, between 130 and 160 pounds," Harm said. He noticed that Mac had tensed up again but he didn't give it much thought.

"Harriet fits into that category," Carolyn said softly.

"Also, they were all Naval personal, but that may just be a coincidence; a matter of convenience," Chegwidden said, trying to keep the group focused on solving the case, not on their friend. Mourning could come later. First they needed closure.

The group knew what the Admiral was doing, how he was trying to keep their thoughts on the case and not on their emotions. So they turned to what they knew best.

The law.


	4. Chapter Four

When Admiral Chegwidden told Harm and Mac to meet him at Bud and Harriet's they both got tense, but, because he was their friend as well as their CO, they turned their office phones to voicemail and grabbed their covers before heading down to a Navy fleet sedan. Harm drove the car to Rosslyn while Mac stared out the passenger side window without seeing a thing.

The thousand yard stare was scaring Harm. The last time he had seen her like that was when Dalton had been killed and she had fallen off the wagon.

And Mac loved Harriet more than she could have ever loved Dalton.

"Mac?" Harm said gently when they were a few blocks from the Roberts residence.

The only response Harm got was a distant "Hmm?" from his partner.

"Mac," Harm said more firmly.

"I'm listening," Mac said distantly. "What is it?"

"I know now isn't the right time, but when we get a moment to breathe… I want you to know that you can talk to me," Harm said. "I know how close you and Harriet were."

Mac looked over at Harm, her eyes shining with tears that refused to fall. "She was one of my best friends," Mac said sadly. She reached out and took Harm's hand in hers. "Promise me that you're not going to leave me like everyone else does," she pleaded.

"I'll never leave you, Mac. You know that," Harm promised as he tangled his fingers with hers so that they were as inextricably linked as their lives and hearts had been for years. "Face it, Marine. You're stuck with me."

And, for the first time since getting the news from the detective, Mac smiled a genuine smile that even managed to reach her tearful eyes. She wanted so badly to hug him right then, but, since he was driving and she knew that once she got into his embrace she would finally let go of her emotions and wouldn't be able to come back to herself until she'd cried herself out, she held back. She did, however, promise herself that the first chance they got she would go to Harm and take comfort in the man who had been her rock since day one.

"I'm good with that," Mac replied, tightening her grip on his hand.

A few minutes later they were parked behind the Admiral's SUV out in front of the Roberts residence. Bud and the Admiral were sitting in the living room, and little AJ was curled up against Chegwidden's chest, probably asleep. Harm smiled as he pointed at the pair of AJs.

"Think anyone else could get away with just crawling up on his lap like that?" Harm asked.

"There are so many ways that can be taken…" Mac teased, letting Harm figure that one out for himself.

"That's just _wrong_, Mac," Harm said as he followed his partner up the walkway.

Mac shrugged and then pressed the doorbell.

All levity was gone the second the Admiral opened the door, armed with a 9mm.

"No offence, sir, but how many murders do you know who ring the doorbell?" Mac asked as they went into the study, the only room in the house without any windows. Little AJ went to his godmother and reached his arms up in the air and she immediately picked him up and cradled him close to her body.

"More than I care to, Mac," Chegwidden said sourly.

"Auntie Mac, why is Uncle Judgy making me go away?" AJ asked sadly.

Harm looked up at Chegwidden sharply but Mac simply chose to soothe the boy. "He's not making you go away, sweetheart. There are some very bad people in the world and one of them took your mommy away. We just want to make sure that they don't try to take you away, too," Mac said gently while stroking the boy's soft hair. "You and your daddy are going to go on little trips for a while and your uncles and I are going to make sure that the bad people won't try to hurt anyone else ever again, okay?"

AJ frowned. "Will they try to hurt you?" he asked, worried.

"No," Mac lied. She didn't know the truth, but she was pretty sure that they weren't completely safe. But AJ didn't need to know that. "You don't have to worry about us."

"Where am I going?"

"I don't know yet, sweetheart, but as soon as I find out I'll let you know, okay?" Mac said softly. AJ nodded and rested his head on her shoulder, needing the comfort of his mother more than ever. Even though Mac wasn't his mother, and there was no substitute for Harriet, AJ had always been comforted by his godmother's embraces.

Mac stroked AJ's fine hair until she was sure he was asleep and then she looked up at the Admiral. "What's the plan?"

An hour later the details were hammered out and Chegwidden left to make some calls to see if he could get Bud's transfer hushed up, just in case. AJ's arrangements were all taken care of, and there would be no way for anyone to track him to where he was going.

Harm felt a little awkward as he moved around the unfamiliar kitchen, but AJ was hungry and Bud needed to eat something, even if he didn't want to, so, while Mac and Bud told AJ what the deal was, he made some spaghetti with his special vegetable sauce. It was AJ's favourite, but it had also been Harriet's, which made him a little hesitant to serve the dish. However, the brilliant smile on his godson's face when he started spinning the pasta around his fork made all Harm's doubts leave him like an F-14 off a catapult on a carrier deck.

After the meal was all cleaned up, Harm said goodbye to Bud and promised to keep him updated on AJ while he was away at sea. Mac was going to stick around to help Bud and AJ get ready for their trips, so Harm drove back to JAG alone.

Knowing he wasn't going to be getting much work done in the next few days, Harm made sure he stayed late to finish up all his paperwork before heading out. He was just heading to the fax machine to send a document to the defence council on a case he was working when he realized that Meg was also still working.

Harm sent his fax and gathered up his things to head out, though, instead of heading to the elevators, he went to Meg's office.

Rapping his knuckles against the doorjamb, Harm peered into the small office that had once been his. The punishment office, where Admiral Chegwidden kept the lawyers he needed but didn't really want to see.

Or, in this case, visiting attorneys who would be moved somewhere more suitable once the space became available.

"Hey," Meg said, looking up from the file she was going over. "You heading out?" she asked, glancing at his briefcase and cover.

"It's almost ten. Anything I need to get done won't happen until the morning anyway," Harm said. "What about you? You should be exhausted by now, with the time change and everything."

"It's only five in the afternoon for me, Harm," Meg said with a gentle smile. _Nice try, Rabb,_ she thought absently. "Besides, I have a ton of files to go over and you know as well as I do that every second we don't have a tangible lead is another second that the killer is either planning out his next hit or is getting the hell out of dodge. And neither is an option I care for."

Unable to argue with that logic, Harm tried another tactic. "How about this. You grab some files and we go to my place. I'll make dinner and help you with the files until I can't see straight."

"Wow, a pilot offering up his eyesight," Meg teased. She looked at the files and then back at Harm, completely serious. "What about Mac?"

"What about her?" Harm asked, confused.

"Won't she be bothered by me coming over?" Meg asked.

Harm let out a bitter chuckle. "Mac and I are just friends," he said. "And even if we were more, I seriously doubt she would be all that bothered by me making dinner and going over case-files with a friend. Come on. You haven't had my meatless meatloaf _years._"

Meg scrunched up her nose. "I think I would like to maintain that trend," she said as she selected a stack of files and tucked them safely in her briefcase. "I wouldn't say no to some of that fettuccini alfredo you made for my birthday, though."

"Coming right up," Harm said, glad he had gotten her to leave the office. He knew that Meg would have stayed until she had every single detail of every file memorized. Normally her obsessive work ethic would have been a good thing, a point of pride for Meg. But, even with her superior memory and her impressive work ethic and ability to sacrifice her own time and energy in deference to a case, Harm knew Meg would end up collapsing before taking a break.

Harmon Rabb Jr wasn't usually one to tell someone that they were too dedicated to a task or that they were getting obsessed over a case. He knew he had obsessions of his own—flying and his father being the two biggest and most well known—but he felt that his obsessions just helped him spot the signs in others. And he could see that Meg was well on her way to full-blown obsession. It was entirely possible that a few more hours in the tiny office where not even the janitors went regularly would have set Meg off and she wouldn't have come out of her office for anything beyond the case.

"So where is Mac tonight?" Meg asked as she loaded up a box with the files she felt could be pertinent.

"She's helping Bud pack," Harm said. "Chegwidden got him a shipboard JAG position on the USS Sequoia. Transport leaves in two days. Right after Harriet's funeral."

"What's going to happen to his son?" Meg asked as she gathered up her cover and coat.

Harm sighed. "After the funeral I'm flying out to the West Coast with him. Mom and Frank are gonna take care of him for a few weeks, maybe longer if we can't get this all settled."

"Does he know your mom and stepfather?"

"Yeah. AJ calls them Nana and Pop," Harm said with a smile. "I called them earlier and got them up to date. Mom's gallery is closed for a few weeks for some internal facelift thing and Frank basically makes his own hours, so they'll be able to watch him 'round the clock. And an old buddy of mine is convalescing there with a broken leg, so he'll be able to help out, too."

"Your friend's usually hang out at your parent's place?" Meg asked with a small smile.

Harm shrugged. "It happens. Mom loves it and Frank thinks it's cute or something. Apparently I don't visit often enough and when I do I'm not injured enough to warrant being waited on hand and foot," he said as he punched the elevator call button. While waiting he turned and looked around the empty office. They'd finally managed to get Chegwidden to go home after he'd made all the arrangements for Bud, though only because Jen had caught him asleep at his desk in the middle of a violent nightmare that left the former SEAL shaken.

The JAG staff had seen their CO in many different ways. Angry was very common. Fatherly and concerned. Grief-stricken. Happy, sad, even playful on occasion.

But _neve_r shaken.

Seeing their stalwart leader so lost and distressed had thrown the entire office into a state of semi-chaos. As long as they had Admiral Chegwidden, Navy SEAL and fearless leader of the JAG corps, there to ground them all everything would be okay, but as soon as he became AJ, a man who had seen too much in his life and had just lost someone he thought of as a daughter, things got messy. Everyone in the office had come to think of Chegwidden as a surrogate father-figure as well as a CO, but, since he was the latter first and foremost, none of them could do anything to help the hurting former. The paradox was positively suffocating.

"You okay?" Meg asked when she noticed Harm's thousand mile stare.

"No," Harm admitted. "But I can fake it," he said as the elevator arrived.

Meg wasn't reassured.


	5. Chapter Five

Harriet's funeral was full military dress, complete with F-14 flyover by some pilots off the Seahawk that happened to be in Norfolk for a few days. AJ clung to his father, not shedding any tears and not looking away from the mahogany casket that was draped with an American flag.

After the ground had taken his mother from him, AJ sat still and waited until it was time for him to do his special part.

His Auntie Mac's words came flowing back to him as he clutched the small bouquet of daisies in his hand. They were tied with a ribbon with the words 'I'll love you forever, Mommy' written on the tails of the bow. "Your mother loved daisies, AJ. Remember when you picked some for her birthday? Remember how happy she was? She loved getting daisies from you, AJ. And this ribbon is special. It will let your mommy take these flowers with her to Heaven so you'll always be with her."

"Promise?" he had asked as he inspected the ribbon with a critical eye of a child not sure if he should believe what he was told or not.

"I swear it," Auntie Mac had replied. Uncle Harm had nodded, adding his silent two cents.

Auntie Mac and Uncle Harm had never lied to AJ before, so he had taken the flowers and was waiting for his cue.

He got his nod from the priest and, on shaky legs, AJ got off the folding chair and went to the hole in the grass where his mommy would be for the rest of forever. It was so deep and it would be so dark inside the box, AJ thought as he knelt down and sat in the grass. Grandma Simms would be mad at him for getting his new suit dirty but he didn't care.

"Mommy, Auntie Mac said you loved when I gave you daisies," AJ said in a whisper, like he used to use when his mommy would come to him when he was having a nightmare and they didn't want to wake daddy. "She also said that you can take them with you to Heaven. I hope he's right 'cause I want you to always be happy like you were on your birthday last year."

Small tears escaped and started trailing down his chubby cherub cheeks. He let them fall, the salty water making his skin itch as it dried quickly in the light breeze and hot sun.

"I miss you, mommy," AJ said softly before letting the daisies fall into the hole. They landed neatly on the part of the casket that he thought would be where her heart was, and that made him feel a little better.

Before she had died his mother had been helping him with his words, and AJ idly thought that she would be so proud of him because he could read every word that was written in the granite headstone.

LIEUTENANT HARRIET BEAUMONT SIMMS-ROBERTS

BELOVED WIFE, MOTHER, AND FRIEND

"MY SUN SETS TO RAISE AGAIN"

AJ got back up and went back to his father who reached out a hand for him. AJ took the hand and stayed standing, taking the same 'at attention' position that Auntie Mac and Uncle Harm were standing in behind him.

The rest of the funeral went by without AJ noticing much. After it was over people walked past him and his father, whispering apologies and wiping away their tears. AJ shook their hands and saluted the Naval personnel and tried to be a big boy like Grandma Simms told him to.

Auntie Mac and Uncle Harm were the last in the line and AJ smiled weakly as she knelt down in front of him in her dark dress uniform.

"It's okay to be sad, AJ," she said softly, reaching out and caressing the side of his face tenderly. "You love your mommy very much and you're going to miss her. It's okay to cry, to be upset about this. You don't have to hold it all in."

"Grandma said I had to be a big boy today," AJ said sadly.

"And you were. We're all very proud of you," Auntie Mac said. "But even big boys cry. Look at your daddy and Uncle Harm. They both cried today, and they're _real_ big. And the Admiral, too. Crying isn't just for babies, AJ. It's how your emotions come out sometimes."

AJ leaned forward and whispered in Mac's ear. "I wanna be strong, though."

Within a second AJ found himself in his godmother's arms. "Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is let yourself be weak," she said as she held the precious little boy in her arms.

"Can I tell you a secret?" AJ asked.

"Of course," she replied.

"I'm scared. I don't wanna lose daddy and Uncle Harm and you like I lost mommy," AJ said softly.

Auntie Mac picked him up, standing to her full height. Her heels sank a little in the soft soil of Arlington Cemetery but she didn't falter. "I know you're scared, AJ, and it's okay to be scared," Mac said softly so that only he could hear her. They were the only two still standing by the grave, though, as Chegwidden had led Harm and Bud toward the gates so they didn't have to watch Harriet's grave being filled in. "But we're going to be okay. All of us. You and your daddy are just going away for a little while so that your uncles and I can make sure that whoever took your mommy away from all of us can never hurt anyone again. And we'll call you as often as possible, and I bet if you ask them real nice Nana and Pop help you send us e-mails so you can talk to us even when we can't call you. Then you can show us how good you're getting with your writing," she said with an encouraging smile.

"Promise not to use big words?" AJ asked.

"I promise," Mac said. She adjusted his weight on her hip and then said, "I know you don't want to do this, but it's time to go say goodbye to your daddy."

Little AJ Roberts sighed a sigh of deep sadness and then nodded. He wrapped his arms around his godmother's neck and buried his face in her shoulder as Mac carried him to the car that was waiting for them.

AJ thought it was completely unfair that the mean people took his mommy away and then his aunt and uncles, the nice people who he loved, were making his daddy go away and then making him to stay with Nana and Pop in California. He knew they knew what they were doing, though, and he trusted his extended family with all the blind faith a five year old can, so, even though it made him incredibly sad, AJ decided that he wouldn't fight the decision that was made for him.

That didn't mean he had to be happy about it, though.

Mac slid into the car with complete and utter grace, barely jostling the boy she held so tenderly. She was sitting next to Bud, facing Harm and the Admiral. The grim expressions of the three men Mac loved like family had very little to do with the funeral, and that made her sad because no one deserved to be stripped of the chance to mourn for a lost loved one.

The car started moving. No one spoke as they got past the gates and onto the main road. They were on their way to Andrews Air Force Base. Bud's things were in the trunk. AJ's were already waiting for him on the plane with the small bags Harm and Mac had packed for themselves.

In five hours Harm, Mac, and AJ would be arriving in San Diego.

In fifteen hours Bud would be landing on the _USS Sequoia_.

The silence in the car was oppressive.

The thought of speaking, however, didn't enter into anyone's mind.

By the time the driver had parked the car at Andrews little AJ had left Mac's arms and was curled up with his father, needing the brief parental contact before they went in opposite directions for who-knows-how-long.

Bud, Harm, and little AJ went to change and, after finding a pair of dress pants and a light sweater, Mac went to change as well. The Admiral met them a few minutes later and handed Mac a bottle of brown hair dye. AJ could pass for the child of Harm and Mac if his hair was darker, and, though neither Roberts man had been pleased with the idea, safety was what was most important. Half an hour later AJ Roberts had chestnut hair and was clinging desperately to his father.

Mac could feel her eyes filling with tears as she watched the father and son say goodbye to each other. And when the Ensign came over to say that the transport was leaving she wanted to punch the young man. If Harm hadn't put his hand on her arm she probably would have, too, regardless of the fact that her CO was standing about five feet away from her.

"Be safe," Mac said softly as she hugged Bud tightly.

"You, too," Bud replied.

Bud saluted his friends and smiled softly as his son saluted back at him along with his godparents and 'Uncle Judgy'.

He didn't look back as he crossed the tarmac to the helo that was waiting.

AJ didn't blink until the massive bird was out of sight.

"What time does your flight leave?" the Admiral asked Harm.

"Pretty much whenever we're ready," Harm replied. "We should probably get going, though. The faster we're out of DC the better."

"Agreed," Chegwidden nodded. He knelt down in front of little AJ. "You remember your story?" he asked the boy.

Little AJ nodded. "I'm Albert. Uncle Harm's brother Sergi is my father. I'm visiting my… step-grandma?" he asked hesitantly.

"Just call her Nana like you usually do, sweetheart," Mac said gently.

"Okay. I'm visiting Nana and Pop 'cause Sergi... daddy...is sick and he can't take care of me right now," AJ said.

"And you speak English because?" Harm prodded.

"'Cause my mommy was American," AJ said, "and my daddy taught me English 'cause they always wanted to come here to live and didn't want me to have to learn everything all over again."

Chegwidden smiled, if only for a moment. "Good. And you memorized the numbers we gave you?"

"Yes, sir," AJ said, sounding more sure of himself than he looked.

"Good boy," Chegwidden said. He gave the boy a hug and ruffled his newly brown hair and then stood up again. "I have to get back to the office… Commander Austin is holding down the fort at the moment. Call me when you get to where you're going, alright?" he said to Harm.

"Aye, aye, sir," Harm said, standing at attention even though he was in civvies.

With a curt nod to Harm and then another to Mac, Chegwidden turned and went back to the car, leaving the 'family' standing on the tarmac feeling like they were lost in a paved desert.

AJ reached up and took the hands of his godparents, needing the human connection to keep him focused until they were in the air at least because he knew they were in danger on the ground. If he didn't stay focused on that fact, something he knew he wasn't supposed to know, AJ knew that everything that had happened that day would catch up with him and his father going away and burying his mother would take him out of his proverbial commission.

And, even if he didn't quite understand what was going on, AJ knew that the last thing his godparents needed was a hysterical five year old on top of everything else.

With a barely perceptible tug on the boy's hand, Harm started leading AJ and Mac toward the hanger that his stepfather's private Cessna was waiting in. They went the long way, in through one hanger and through a connecting door, along the covered breezeway that ran along the back of the hangers, around the offices and looping back through linoleum-lined hallways. If he'd been asked to go back the way he came, AJ was sure he would get lost before the end of the first hallway, but he trusted Uncle Harm and was sure that he wouldn't get them lost. Especially not when flying was in the near future.

Harm checked a corner before they went into the correct hanger at last, and AJ bit his lip to keep from smiling at the thought that it was all very secret-agent-y, the sneaking and the hiding to escape from the bad guys on an unmarked jet. He knew that what he was experiencing was reality, not a comic book or a movie, and that real bad things that he didn't want to think about could happen to him and to his godparents, but for the moment it was easier to imagine that Uncle Harm was James Bond and Auntie Mac was his new lady-love and that he was the son of a dignitary who had been kidnapped and was being rescued by the spy in a black tux with all the cool gadgets from Q that made no sense at first but would always end up saving the day at the last second, like when a bomb's about to go off and everyone thinks that they'll cut the red wire but with two seconds to go they switch to the blue wire and everything gets real quiet and they cut the wire and cringe as if that will protect them from death and then there's nothing but a clock with one second flashing at the star and a welcome home scene before the credits roll and everyone goes home with sticky shoes and popcorn in their teeth and comments on how they _'knew that was going to happen'_ even though they were gripping the armrest so tightly at that moment that the stuffing was coming out.

And then they were in the Cessna and the shades were drawn and the pilot was doing a last second pre-flight with Harm at his side while Mac helped AJ with his seatbelt and made sure that he had Judgy with him because flying without Judgy was unthinkable unless he was in Sarah and Uncle Harm was flying the plane.

"Scared?" Mac asked as she reached over and took AJ's pale hand in hers.

"Just thinkin," AJ replied, giving Judgy a tight squeeze to make sure that his magic was still working as Harm slid into the seat next to Mac and did his own seatbelt up with practiced ease.

Twenty minutes later they were flying westward.

* * *

_"MY SUN SETS TO RAISE AGAIN" – Elizabeth Barrett Browning._


	6. Chapter Six

The Chrysler dealership that Frank Burnett owned had it's own landing strip, and they had utilized that fact to keep word of their arrival quiet. Some contacts Harm still had at the CIA had fixed the civilian airline records to show that an _Albert Zhukov_ had flown from Moscow to DC and from DC to San Diego. They were also monitoring anyone who tried to hack into government files to find out anything about the JAG staff and their families.

"Uncle Harm, how far is Disneyland from Nana and Pop's place?" AJ asked. He knew that what was happening was serious, but that didn't mean that he wanted to miss the chance to see Mickey in person.

Harm laughed and ruffled the boy's hair. "Not in the plan, kid. Maybe after things are settled back home."

AJ looked upset, but when he turned his face up to complain to his godfather the look Harm was wearing told the little boy all he needed to know. Harm was just as unhappy about the situation as AJ was. So he just looked ahead and tried to keep up with his godparents who both had really long legs and could move at least three times faster than he could. He couldn't understand how Aunt Mac could walk so fast in her 'crazy high' shoes but he knew that it wasn't the right time to ask her.

They were about halfway across the tarmac when AJ felt his godparents tense up. Immediately he started looking around, trying to see what had made two of the strongest people he knew act like the stray cat that hung out around the house and hissed and arched it's back whenever anyone came within twenty feet of it.

Thinking about that cat made him sad. His mother always put out a bowl of water and a can of wet cat food every morning and every evening for the stray. AJ couldn't help but wonder who was going to feed the cat now.

"Hey, AJ, why don't you go make sure we didn't leave anything on the plane," Harm said when Mac put her hand on his arm and drew his gaze toward the dark sedan that was parked across the street from the rental that was waiting for them outside the compound.

Without hesitating AJ turned and ran back to the plane, not looking back.

He knew what was going on and he was too scared to argue with two of the people he trusted most in his life.

"Think they knew?" Mac asked as she opened her purse without looking down.

"How could they? Chegwidden is the only one in DC who knew how we were getting here, and mom and Frank wouldn't have told anyone," Harm said.

"Maybe someone bugged our phones," Mac said as she pulled the battery out of her phone and put the two pieces back into her purse to be disposed of later. It was unlikely that anyone would be able to track the CIA issue phone without CIA issue equipment but she wasn't going to take any chances. "Or your mom's," she added softly, knowing that the next step they had to take was going to tear her partner apart. "Harm, we have to leave." She looked into Harm's tormented eyes. "Your mom and Frank are not the targets here, Harm, but if we don't get out of here we're going to make them targets."

"I know," Harm said, slipping his arm around Mac's shoulders instinctively. "I just wish I could be sure that they're gonna be okay."

They went back into the hanger and got back on the plane. AJ was struggling with the safety belt.

"The black car was the bad people, wasn't it?" AJ asked as Harm helped him with the seatbelt.

"Very observant," Harm complimented.

"We're going to Plan B," Mac called up to the pilot who immediately started flipping switches in the cockpit. She then turned to Harm. "You're sure you want to do it this way?"

Harm nodded and headed for the cockpit. The pilot let a moment later, offering Mac and AJ a sad smile before disembarking and closing the hatch.

"You remember what to do?" Mac asked AJ who nodded and clung a little tighter to Judgy, needing the strength of his stuffed best friend. "Good boy," Mac said, quickly kissing his forehead before going up to join Harm in the cockpit. "He's terrified," she said softly as she sat down in the co-pilot's seat and started strapping herself in.

"It's understandable," Harm said as he did a quick check of the equipment in front of him. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Mac said. She looked over at Harm. "We're in this together."

"Always," Harm replied, reaching over and giving her hand a quick squeeze before turning back to the controls.

They were taxied out onto the tarmac and they took off only minutes before a second plane, identical to their own, took off and headed in the opposite direction. Harm knew a third would be taking off within minutes and heading in a third direction, and several cars would be leaving and heading in all directions. Even though none of them had wanted to think about the possibility of their plans being intercepted it had been decided early on that it was a possibility and contingency plans were put in place.

"Harm, we have to contact the Admiral," Mac said softly. It wasn't likely that AJ would be able to hear them over the roar of the engines but she didn't want to risk scaring him further. Little AJ Roberts had been unbelievably strong through the whole ordeal but he was still a little kid who had just lost his mother and was in the middle of what amounted to the plot of a by-the-numbers spy movie.

"We will once we get to our next stop. We're not expected but I know they'll help us," Harm said as he checked the control panel to make sure they were on course.

"Do you have FAA approval for this?" Mac asked wearily.

"Of course. The airport is expecting us. From there we'll rent a car and go somewhere safe," Harm said. He looked over at Mac. "Trust me. Everything will be okay."

Mac nodded. "I trust you," she said, meaning it wholeheartedly. She honestly couldn't remember a time in her life when she hadn't trusted Harmon Rabb completely. _Logically_ she knew that she hadn't trusted him before they met and that she hadn't trusted him all that much on their first case, especially when he was constantly staring at her like he had known her for years—that had creeped her out completely—but when he continued helping her even after she pulled a gun on him she had known that he wasn't just a cocky flyboy. He was a cocky flyboy who she could trust with everything she had. And suddenly she couldn't remember why she had always been so careful to keep from giving him her heart, as that was the only part of her that she had yet to openly give to Harm. And in that moment she couldn't understand why.

Five hours later Harm landed the plane and Mac sighed heavily, relieved to be back on Terra Firma after spending almost two days in the air. They were taxied into the hanger and after making sure that everything was in proper working order, Harm and Mac left the cockpit and moved to the body of the plane to wake little AJ who was asleep sitting up, never having taken his seat belt off.

"I still say he looks just like Harriet," Harm said, recalling the first visit he and Mac had made to the Roberts residence after little AJ's birth and the mother and son's release from the hospital.

"No way. Those cheeks are all Bud," Mac said. "The eyes, though. Those are his mother's," she added softly.

"Definitely," Harm agreed. He checked his watch. "We've got about a two hour drive ahead of us. We should get going if we want to catch them before they leave for work."

Mac nodded and knelt down in front of their godson, gently waking him while unbuckling the safety belt that was basically all that was keeping the boy upright. "AJ, sweetheart, it's time to wake up," she said gently. "You can sleep in the car if you want, but Uncle Harm's back can't take carrying you down the steps after flying for so long." Harm was going to comment on that, but he knew she was right. His back was killing him.

"Where are we?" AJ asked, stretching and wiping his eyes at the same time.

"Somewhere safe," Harm said. "There's a rental car waiting for us. We're going to go see an old friend of mine. He's going to help us find somewhere to stay until we know that you're going to be safe."

AJ nodded. "Just don't leave me, okay?" he said.

"We're not going to leave you, sweetheart," Mac said gently. She held out her hand to the boy and he clutched to her tightly, the physical connection calming him.

Mac was sure it was only a matter of time before the events of the past few days caught up with all of them and she prayed that AJ wasn't around to see her and Harm when they finally broke down and began to grieve. The moment they stopped running, stopped moving around constantly and stayed in one place for more than five minutes, stopped watching the shadows and using mirrors to look around corners… that was when they would break down. So, until they were safe enough for the three of them to let their guards down for a little while, they had to keep moving.

Harm carried their bags down and threw them in the trunk as Mac pilfered a couple of blankets and pillows from the jet's stash. The airport staff smiled at the sight of the woman juggling a stack of pillows and blankets while not letting go of the hand of a chubby little boy who was clinging to a stuffed animal and looking around like there were monsters in every shadow.

Within ten minutes they were in the simple forest green sedan, the boy already asleep in the nest Mac had made in the back seat, Mac with her legs curled under her body and a blanket draped over top of her covering her up to her chin, and Harm adjusting the seat so that he had enough room for his six-foot-four frame.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going or is it a surprise?" Mac asked, fighting off a yawn. She refused to fall asleep because if she faded then Harm couldn't be far behind. She was the one who got by on almost no sleep. She was the insomniac. Harm was the one who needed ten full hours to get by, and Mac was sure he hadn't slept in almost three days.

"An old friend of the family owes me a huge favour. I can't think of anything better to cash it in on than saving little AJ," Harm said, his eyes finding his godson in the rear-view mirror.

"What did you do that he owes you for?" Mac asked.

"I saved his daughter's life," Harm said. Mac looked at him, prompting him without words for the rest of the story. He acquiesced only because talking would help him stay awake. "It was about six years ago or so… I was just starting out at JAG. Michael and his daughter, Josephine—Joey—were in New York for a week and I went out to visit them for a weekend. The three of us went to the shipyards and I was giving them a slightly unauthorized tour of one of the carriers when Joey slipped on the deck and stumbled over the edge. Luckily she landed in the netting. Michael froze, though. His sister, Ella, drowned in the Atlantic when we were kids… he was having serious flashbacks. I climbed down and got Joey back up on deck as the netting tore away from its anchors. Turns out the carrier was in port because it needed some maintenance that's too risky to do at sea."

"When was the last time you saw Michael and Joey?" Mac asked.

Harm thought for a second. "About six months ago. You were prosecuting in Miami and I was on leave. I had a five day weekend and I flew down to see them."

"Does Joey have a mother?" Mac asked, curious as to why Harm had yet to mention another female.

"Sasha. She's a communications officer on a carrier somewhere in the Gulf. She was Diane's roommate at the Academy… that's actually how we all met. There was a party, off campus, and Michael was in town so I invited him to come along. He met Sasha and there was this automatic connection. Sasha joined our group and then one day she brought Diane by, saying that she was sick of finding her roommate doing nothing but studying all the time and that she hoped we would bring her out of her shell."

Mac looked down at her lap. "Is it going to be weird for me to be there?" she asked. Diane was a ghost in their relationship that they had yet to exorcise and, while she knew they would have to get around to it someday, she didn't feel up to it right then and she knew that Harm wasn't either.

"Maybe a little, but it won't be like it was for me when I first met you," Harm assured her. "Michael knows all about you. He, Sasha, Keeter, and Annie are the only ones who are still around that knew Diane really well."

"Do you think that maybe Annie hated me so much because I look like Diane? I mean, you've said that you were all really close back then… and I'm sure there's more to why she hated me so much, but do you think that the fact that I look like Diane has anything to do with the animosity between Annie and me?" Mac asked.

Harm frowned. "I never thought of that," he admitted. "And she didn't hate you. She was jealous of how close you and I were and she wished she was a strong as you are. She never believed that even you have your weak moments. But… maybe, yeah, the Diane factor might have had something to do with the weirdness. Hmm. I never actually thought about that. Interesting insight, councillor." He reached over and found her hand that was peeking out from under the blanket. "But that doesn't matter, Mac, because Annie is out of my life and Michael has never had issues with bitterness like Annie does. It might be a bit of a shock for him, but he'll get over it."

"Good," Mac said.

Harm drove the rest of the way with one hand on the wheel and the other tightly laced with Mac's. AJ snored softly in the back seat and Mac managed to get a half hour nap somewhere along the way, waking up only when Harm stopped and turned the car off.

"We're there?" Mac asked as she stretched out her aching legs. She knew curling up hadn't been a good idea.

"Yeah," Harm said softly. He gently brushed her hair from her eyes. "I'm gonna go see if Michael's around. You can stay here with AJ if you want, of we can get him to come with us and we can all do this together. It's up to you."

"I'll come with," Mac said, not feeling strong enough to separate herself from Harm yet. Maybe after she had had a chance to grieve and process she would be able to handle being alone, but until she had that chance she knew that she was safer and stronger with Harm by her side. And, judging by how relieved he was when she said she'd come in with him, she had a feeling that he felt the same way about her.

"Good," he said. He leaned over and kissed her cheek lightly. "I know this isn't exactly what you signed on for when you agreed to come with me to take AJ to my mom and Frank… but I honestly don't know if I'd be able to do this without you, Ninja Girl."

Mac smiled at that. It had been a long time since she'd gotten a 'Ninja Girl' out of Harm. "You didn't seriously think I was going to let you go through this alone, did you?" she asked, tilting her head slightly into Harm's hand that had lingered at her cheek after brushing her hair from her eyes. "Like it or not, you're stuck with me, Flyboy."

"I can't think of anyone I'd rather be stuck with," Harm said honestly. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead, his lips lingering against her skin for several seconds before he pulled away enough to rest his forehead against hers. "When this is over… when AJ and Bud are safe again… I want to take you out. We can go to New York, have dinner at a fancy restaurant, see a movie or a play, take a walk in the park…" he trailed off. "I know this isn't the time or the place, but I want you to know that I'm finally ready to let go. That is… if you're willing to give us a chance," he said, so incredibly nervous that he was literally shaking. He hadn't been this nervous in his entire life.

"More than willing," Mac said before impulsively moving closer and pressing her lips to Harm's. It wasn't like any of the kisses they had shared before. There was no fear. There were no ghosts haunting them. There was no mistletoe. There was no goodbye.

There was just Harm and Mac, giving in and letting go.


	7. Chapter Seven

As Mac knocked on the door Harm shifted little AJ's weight on his hip. The boy hadn't even woken up when they awkwardly manoeuvred him out of the car. Sleeping through anything and everything was definitely a Harriet trait, they agreed, feeling a little better knowing that their best friend was living on, in a way, in her beloved son. When Mac dropped her hand to her side Harm reached over and took it in his own, both needing and wanting the contact. Mac had no arguments whatsoever.

The door opened and a slim redhead stood before them. She was wearing a pair of colourful pyjama pants and a tank top, her bright green eyes lighting up a moment after she saw who was standing in front of her. "Harm?" she squealed excitedly, rushing forward and hugging him tightly, heedless of the slumbering child that Harm was holding.

"Hey, Joey," Harm said, dropping Mac's hand and hugging the girl. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and then said, "Your dad home?"

Joey pulled away and motioned for the three of them to follow her inside. "Nah. He left for some totally bogus business meeting trip thing a few days ago. Some tiny speck on the map somewhere in Europe I think. But mom is coming home tonight, if you want to talk to her."

"Sure," Harm said.

"Here, I'll take him," Mac said, reaching out for AJ.

"So, Harm, what's with the insta-fam?" Joey asked as the two lawyers transferred the child from one godparent to the other.

"This is AJ Roberts," Harm said. "And this is Sarah MacKenzie."

Mac jumped in, holding out her hand to the girl. "Mac." Joey shook Mac's hand briefly.

"Girlfriend?" Joey questioned Harm.

"Working on in," Harm said, sharing a smile with Mac. "What time do you think your mom will be getting in?" he asked the girl.

Joey shrugged. "Late, probably. Her flight's 'posed to come in at nine, I think. Her tour ended two days ago but she got stuck on the base 'cause her replacement had a major family emergency. She'll probably be getting here close to midnight. You guys can… hang out here, today, I guess. I'm running late for school but, Harm, you know where everything is so just make yourselves at home. I'll be back around four and you can explain what's going on, okay?" she said quickly. Harm nodded. Joey turned and headed off to her room. Ten minutes later she came out wearing a private school uniform. She kissed Harm on the cheek and grabbed a paper bag off the counter before leaving the house in a rush. She was in her car and speeding off towards her school within two minutes.

"This trip isn't really going according to plan," Harm said as he led Mac into the living room. Mac lay AJ down on the couch and covered him with a blanket and then Harm took her hand and led her over to a large chair where he sat down and pulled her down with him. They shifted until they were comfortable and then Harm said, "I'm sorry, Mac. I should have called Michael first, made sure he was here."

"It's okay," Mac said, squeezing his hands. "Besides, Joey said that her mom's going to be home tonight. She should be able to help, right?" she asked hopefully.

"Not as easily as Michael, but I think so," Harm said. "I just feel uncomfortable putting Joey in danger by staying here all day. The last thing I want is to see more people I care about get hurt."

"I know," Mac said softly. She snuggled into the crook of his neck, inhaling his uniquely _Harm_ scent deeply. "Just try to get some sleep, Harm. You've been on guard for far too long. It's time to rest."

Harm nodded. "Okay," he said, tilting his head to the side and resting his ear on the top of her head. "I'll try to get some sleep. For you."

"Thank you," Mac said, knowing that Harm was about to pass out from exhaustion anyway. She hugged him a little tighter and before too long they were both sinking into dreamland.

AJ woke up and panicked when he realized that he wasn't where he had fallen asleep, but as soon as he saw Harm and Mac curled up together in the chair he knew he was going to be okay. He left the couch and crawled onto the chair with his godparents, covering all three of them with the blanket, and, for the next four hours, AJ kept watch while Harm and Mac slept.

Mac woke up first and smiled when she realized that not only was she in Harm's arms, but she also had AJ curled up against her and that he had covered all three of their bodies with a blanket. "Hey, kiddo," Mac said gently. "How long have you been up?"

"Few hours," AJ said with a shrug. "Where are we?" he asked. He'd been trying to figure that out since he woke up but all he could guess was that they were finally—finally—back on solid ground because the ground wasn't doing the shaking thing that he had lived with while they were on the planes.

"This house belongs to a friend of Uncle Harm's," Mac said. "He said that we'll be able to get help here."

"Help hiding or help getting home?" AJ asked cautiously. He wanted to go home. The movie-spy stuff was fun for a while but now he just wanted his daddy and his bed and his toys and the stray cat that he hoped wasn't going hungry without his mother there to feed it.

Mac hesitated, half because she wasn't sure of the answer herself and half because she didn't want to put to words what she knew the answer was going to turn out to be. "I don't know, AJ," Mac said, half lying. She did know, even if it was just the kind of knowing that gives you a slightly sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. "But either way it doesn't matter because the three of us are in this together and you know that Uncle Harm and I are unstoppable when we work together, and with you helping us there's nothing that'll get in our way."

"Pinkie swear?" AJ asked, the childhood vow still holding so much meaning to the boy that the hooking of pinkies was more binding than the most ironclad of contracts, was more secure than a prisoner who had been locked up on Alcatraz when it was still used as a prison and not a tourist trap, was the most sacred of all vows.

"Pinkie swear," Mac said, holding out her pinkie. AJ hooked it with his and they both grinned ridiculously huge grins, holding in giddy laughter only because Harm was still asleep and they didn't want to giggle him or shake him into consciousness before he was ready to wake up on his own anyway.

AJ snuggled into Mac's arms again. "I miss mommy and daddy," he said softly. He looked up at Mac. "Does it get better?"

"Over time," Mac said softly. "It never goes away completely, though."

"Good, 'cause I don't want to forget mommy," AJ said firmly.

"You won't," Mac promised. "But if you ever start to, just come to me or Uncle Harm or your daddy and we'll tell you all about her."

"Thank you," AJ said softly. He hesitated for a minute before speaking again. "Auntie Mac?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm hungry," AJ confessed.

Mac smiled and gently poked Harm, not really wanting to wake him up but not knowing what they would do about the hunger conundrum. Harm jumped up and stood at attention causing both Mac and AJ to fall to the floor in a pile, giggling happily despite their unceremonious dismount.

"At ease, sailor," Mac smiled as she untangled herself from AJ and the blanket and got to her feet. "Feel any better?" she asked as her fingers moved to smooth out his hair that was slightly mussed from sleeping in the chair.

"A little," Harm said. He frowned and rubbed his side. "Who poked me?" Mac smiled and Harm grabbed her around the waist and started tickling her, already knowing all her sensitive spots. AJ sat back and watched as Harm ticked Mac until she begged him to stop. It felt good to see them so happy, even if it was just for a moment. "So, why the annoying wake-up call?" Harm asked as he scooped AJ up and tossed him playfully in the air.

"The little guy's hungry, and if I don't eat soon you're gonna have a grumpy Marine on your hands," Mac admitted.

"Ooh, can't have that, now can we AJ?" Harm asked the boy. AJ shook his head violently. Mac's appetite was the stuff of legends and Harm had taught AJ early on how to tease her about it. "Okay, let's go see what we've got to work with," Harm said, tucking AJ under his arm in Airplane Position and reaching for Mac's hand, both needing and wanting to hold onto her as well.

"I'm telling you now, if you try to pick me up like that you're gonna be sorry, Flyboy," Mac said, indicating how Harm was holding AJ.

"Wouldn't dream of it. You've got too much body fat," Harm said.

"Auntie Mac isn't fat," AJ said defensivelyas Harm sat him down on the countertop.

"Thank you, AJ, but that's not what he was trying to say," Mac said with a good natured smile. "As Uncle Harm has pointed out to me on more than one occasion, women naturally have more body fat than men. But that doesn't mean he was right to say what he did," she added with a glare at Harm.

Harm nodded. "I'm sorry, Mac. I didn't mean to imply that you are anything but perfectly proportioned," he said, slipping his arms around her waist and hugging her tightly. Mac hugged him back, lingering a little longer than necessary before pulling away and hopping up on the counter next to AJ.

"Food please," Mac said innocently.

"Okay," Harm said before turning around and opening cupboards and sifting through the fridge as if it was his loft back in DC. He pulled out some leftovers and proceeded to heat them up while setting the table. Mac wanted to ask how he knew exactly where everything was, but she didn't. She just sat and watched as Harm made the three of them something to eat, even if it was just leftovers.

As at home as he was in a cockpit and in the courtroom Mac knew that Harm was most at home in the kitchen. He had told her not long ago that after his ramp strike, before deciding to go to law school, he had thought about opening a restaurant. He probably would have, too, had Grandma Sarah not talked him into staying in the NAVY despite not being able to fly anymore. She had told him that he still had a lot of good to do and that he could always open a restaurant if law didn't work out, but if the restaurant didn't work out it would be nearly impossible to do the law school thing, especially on the NAVY's dime.

"Okay, eat up," Harm said as he set food out on the table.

They ate and Mac washed up while Harm took a shower and AJ made himself at home with the Cartoon Network. After Harm finished with the shower Mac took her turn, staying under the spray until the hot water had run out. She got back into the clothes she had been wearing for two days since she hadn't thought to grab a change from her bag that was in the trunk of the car, and then she went out and found Harm and AJ watching baseball, both lying on the floor with their eyes glued to the screen. Mac joined them, laying down close to Harm. He reached out and pulled her to his chest and dropped a kiss on her neck before going back to the game.


	8. Chapter Eight

_I've had multiple requests for an update on how things are going back at JAG, so here is the first of two, maybe three chapters featuring the happenings on the East Coast._

_Note: I've written Bud's rank as Lieutenant Commander, though he didn't get promoted until after he lost his leg and, in this fic, he's fully-limbed. I've decided to keep him at LC for several reasons, most of which are probably not clear as of yet, but, for those of you who caught that one,I do have my reasons for the rank-change and they do not include a mistake on my part. This time, at least._

_Oh, and a quick question that I'd love some feedback on because I'm toying with a new sub-plot to thread into this fic. What are your thoughts on a Meg/Gunny relationship?_

_Please let me know what you think, both about the chapter and the potential 'ship._

_M_

* * *

Down three lawyers and one office manager JAG Ops was even crazier than its usual 'just out of the madhouse' feel. Meg was trying desperately to pick up the slack for Harm, Mac and Bud, while taking on new cases as well. Carolyn and Mattoni were working as desperately as they could to make things work out, and the Admiral had even ended up taking on two murder cases because the new lawyers weren't used to the pressure of the Falls Church office and were all having trouble adjusting. Gunnery Sergeant Victor Galindez had come back to JAG, having finished a TOD overseas and needing to be in the environment that had been his home for so long, and his presence was greatly appreciated, though he would never, and could never, be Harriet.

It had only been two days since Harm, Mac, and Bud left.

Meg had been assigned to Bud's office and she was searching for a transcript of a deposition when Jen knocked on the door.

"Excuse me, ma'am, if you're busy I can come back," Jen said nervously. Meg hadn't known her for long, but it was obvious that Jennifer Coates was not the nervous type.

"Come in, Petty Officer," Meg said gently. She had an hour until court and, other than locating the deposition, she was fully prepared so she didn't see the harm in finding out what was bothering the Petty Officer. "What's on your mind?"

"It's about the Colonel and the Commanders," Jen said.

Meg nodded. That was the most common source of concern in the JAG office at that moment and it made sense that Jennifer, who had been brought into the JAG world by Harm, would be feeling no small amount of helplessness and trepidation. "Has there been any news?" she asked as she motioned for Jen to take a seat.

"Commander Roberts arrived safely on the carrier at 0400 and seems to be doing well so far, all things considered," Jen said. "But… no one has heard anything from Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie. The airport in San Diego confirmed that they landed safely and that they did go to Plan B, whatever that means, but since then… nothing." She looked down at her hands and then straightened up again and tried to back peddle. "I realize that my concern may appear undue, ma'am, however—"

"It's not undue, Jen, and don't let anyone tell you that it is. Harm and Mac may be your superiors, but they're also your friends," Meg said firmly. "Look, I've known Harm for years and, even though I haven't been around him for a while, the basic principles that make up Harmon Rabb are still there. He's fiercely protective of the people he loves and he will do anything he can to make sure that justice prevails. And I realize it sounds like I'm quoting the description of some TV hero but you've known Harm long enough to know that I'm right. And Mac is the same way, only she can keep a clear head most of the time whereas Harm is very emotional about things. If they haven't contacted anyone it's because they don't want to risk anyone tracking the message to their location. If they were in trouble they would have made contact, though. I'm sure of it."

Jen wasn't convinced, but she did feel a little better after hearing Meg say all the things she had been telling herself for the past few hours.

"I hope you're right, ma'am," Jen said honestly. She stood up to leave but Meg stopped her.

"Before he left Harm told me that you've been living in less than ideal quarters," Meg said.

"That is quite an understatement," Jen said, blushing slightly.

"Well, it's not a permanent solution, but Harm and Mac asked me to look after their places while they're dealing with all this, and Mac mentioned that she would be fine with you moving into the as yet unfurnished spare bedroom in her apartment, even if it's just until you find a place of your own," Meg said. She grabbed a set of keys from the desk. "Tiner and Mattoni will be at your place Wednesday at eighteen hundred to deal with the heavy lifting. They tell me they'll expect payment in the form of cold beer and the promise that you don't have too much heavy furniture."

"I have a bed and a dresser, but that's about it," Jen said.

Meg smiled. "Good. So you can take care of Mac's apartment and I'll crash at Harm's until this is all sorted out, and some of our problems are, if not solved, then put on hold for the time being," she said. Jen smiled weakly in return and Meg wished she could see a little more of the infamous Coates optimism and candour. "And if you need any help with anything, anything at all, let me know."

"I appreciate that, ma'am," Jen said.

"Meg," the blonde corrected firmly.

"And if you need any help acclimating to DC, I'm here to help," Jen said.

"Unless you can make it ninety-degrees and sunny everyday and breezy at night I'm afraid there's not much you can do to make this transition easier, but thanks for the offer," Meg said good-naturedly.

Jen smiled and waited to be dismissed before going back to her desk and Meg went back to searching for the file.

She finally found it only to find the Admiral standing in her doorway, a grim expression on his face. Meg stood at attention but the Admiral waved her off.

"Sir?" she said softly, afraid to find out what was bothering the Admiral so much. She hadn't worked under him for long before she left DC but she knew he wasn't a man who was easily shaken.

"I just got a call from a Captain at Annapolis. Bud's younger brother, Mike, was killed half an hour ago. There was a training exercise at Quantico that Mike was involved with and he was on his way to his car when he was shot," the Admiral said as he rubbed his forehead. "I want you and Gunny to go to Quantico and find out exactly what happened."

"Sir, I'm due in court in a few minutes," Meg said.

"I've already spoken to the judge on your behalf. The session had been rescheduled to next Monday, 0900."

"Thank you, sir," Meg said. She put the file down and sighed softly. "Whoever is doing this has a grudge against Commander Roberts."

"Apparently," Chegwidden nodded. He looked at Meg and nodded. "I'm having trouble with the concept as well, Commander, but that seems to be what we're dealing with here."

"Does the Commander have any other family that should be warned?" Meg asked.

"His father lives in Norfolk. He's being dealt with," the Admiral said. "Bud and his father aren't that close, though, so it is unlikely that whoever is doing this will go after the Master Chief."

Meg frowned and then said, "That's why both Harm and Mac went with little AJ, isn't it, sir? They left because they're targets, too; probably next on the hit list."

"The thought did occur to us," Chegwidden nodded. "And, though less likely than Harm or Mac, you might be in danger as well."

"How so?"

"It was your recommendation that got Bud into JAG," the Admiral said. "And it is doubtful that Bud made any enemies while he was PRO on the Seahawk."

"Then by that logic you are a potential target as well, sir," Meg pointed out.

"I suppose you're right," the Admiral said, though he didn't seem too terribly concerned with that thought. He hesitated for a moment and then spoke again. "Make sure you have your weapon with you," he said before leaving.

Meg sighed heavily and went to the wall safe, spinning the dials and pulling out her gun and checking the clip. Once she was sure that everything was in proper working order she grabbed her coat and her cover and left the office, locking up and making a beeline for Gunny's desk. He, too, was checking his weapon over, his coat and cover sitting on the top of his desk.

"Ready to go, ma'am?" Gunny asked. Meg nodded and they left.

They were quiet for most of the drive until Meg got sick of the silence. "So, what's your background, Gunny?"

"Mostly front line action, ma'am. After my first enlistment ended I went back to New Mexico for a while and then I went back to the Corps. Colonel MacKenzie brought me into JAG after Lieutenant Simms went on mat leave with little AJ and Tiner had the office looking like a war zone."

"He still hasn't learned how to file, huh?" Meg asked, remembering the few weeks Tiner had been there at the same time she had. She'd never had so much trouble with paperwork in her career and, try as she might, she couldn't even blame Harm for it.

"That would be a negative," Gunny smirked. Meg smiled in return and then Gunny said, "What about yourself? The Admiral mentioned that you used to be Commander Rabb's partner, before the Colonel arrived."

"Correct," Meg nodded. "Harm and I were partners for about a year. I was fresh out of law school and too naive to really handle Harm as a partner so when I got the chance to get out, get more experience, I took it. Haven't looked back since." She looked down at her hands. "Until recently, at least," she added bitterly.

"Ma'am?" Gunny said tentatively.

Meg shook her head. "It's just… regrets. Things I wish I did that didn't seem important enough at the time. Like when Bud sent me an invitation to his wedding. I could have taken some leave, witnessed his joy, met Harriet, seen my old friends. Or when Harm called me because some new evidence had come up in the last case we investigated together… I just shrugged it off because the victim was his Academy sweetheart and I assumed that Diane had become another one of his obsessions."

"Diane, ma'am?"

"Diane Shonke, and drop the _ma'am_, Gunny," Meg said. The man beside her was at least ten years her senior and, even though she was an officer and he was enlisted, it felt odd being a _ma'am_ to him. "Diane was a crypto officer on the Seahawk. The carrier was in Norfolk and when Diane left for weekend liberty she was followed to her car and murdered. She had been due to drive to DC so she and Harm could talk about their undefined relationship… and then we got called to Norfolk and she was in the body bag…" Meg sighed softly, remembering how hard that case had been for everyone involved, but especially Harm. "And then, two months later, Mac walks into his life."

"What does the Colonel have to do with the Commander's girlfriend?" Gunny frowned.

"Well, other than the fact that Diane was Navy, Mac and Diane are identical. Mac's a few years younger, I think, but physically they look exactly alike. When Harm first told me I thought he was seeing things. Then Bud mentioned it to me… though the thought of dual hallucinations did occur to me, I knew it was real."

"Does the Colonel know?" Gunny asked. Meg smiled. Semper Fi, Marine. The Gunny was prepared to stand up for Mac if necessary, even though everyone who mattered knew that Mac could take care of herself, especially when it came to Harm.

"Yeah. Maybe not the whole story, but she was with Harm the night he tracked down Diane's killer," Meg said. She had never heard about that night from Harm himself—the way she had shrugged off his vehement insistence that Holbarth was the killer and that he had proof this time had cut Harm too deep for him to turn to her so readily only hours later—but Bud had told her everything he knew and his description of the body being crushed between the dock and the carrier was far too descriptive for her tastes, especially since, it being a stormy night, visibility would have been limited so Meg knew that most of the description came from Bud's own imagination and not from what he actually saw.

The mile marker alerted Meg that they were only a matter of minutes from Quantico and, even as she noticed Gunny perking up a little—being one of two Marines working in a Navy office—at the proximity of all the other Jarheads that were only a few miles away, Meg turned her focus back to the case and off of her melancholy reminiscences.

"Do you know anyone at Quantico that will be willing to be candid, Gunny?" Meg asked.

"I knew a few people," Gunny nodded. Meg smiled slightly when she noticed that he hadn't added the obligatory _ma'am_. "Not sure if they're the people who will be able to help, though."

"Any allies are better than none," Meg reminded him.

"You don't have much experience dealing with Marines, do you, ma'am?" Gunny asked with a smirk.

Meg narrowed her eyes at him. "I've had my fair share, Gunny, including accelerated Boot at Parris Island. I can hold my own."

"I'm sure that's true, ma'am," Gunny said, though it was clear that he wasn't sure she would have as easy a time of things as she thought.

_TBC..._


	9. Chapter Nine

_Sorry this chapter is so short, but I needed to end it where I did for a reason. I haven't decided if the next chapter will be on Meg and Falls Church or on Harm and Mac... so I'll leave that up to you guys. Let me know which you would rather see in the next update._

_Standard disclaimers apply._

_Mel_

* * *

Quantico was in lockdown when they arrived but they flashed their credentials and, one confirmation phone call later and they were allowed in, though their car was thoroughly searched and their weapons were scrutinized. The guard directed them to the scene. The FBI half of Quantico, Meg realized, though she decided that made sense. Annapolis and Quantico had several joint training exercises throughout the year but there was always great debate about home court advantage.

Gunny navigated the streets as if he had lived there all his life, and Meg wasn't all that surprised to discover that he had worked and lived on the base for several months before joining JAG the first time around.

Stopping the car just outside the yellow tape they gathered their things and found out who was in charge of the scene. NCIS had already jumped on it, but Meg was determined to keep the case away from them. She had high hopes, though, because they were already lucky that the FBI hadn't already claimed jurisdiction because Mikey was killed on their land. The fewer agencies involved the better.

The parking lot was only half full and it was easy to find Mikey's car. It wasn't a complete junker, but it definitely needed some work. At the rear of the car, the trunk wide open, several people were gathered. Mikey Roberts was laying on the ground with blood pooled around him. The ME was taking his liver temp even though the time of death was known because the fatal shot had been somewhat less than covert. NICS had three agents on site. One was flashing the scene, making sure that everything was on film before anything got moved. Another was taking measurements and sketching the scene. And the third was crouched down beside the car looking at the rear right wheel like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Meg noticed that there was something on that wheel that wasn't on any of the others and she assumed that the NCIS agent was trying to figure out what kind of trace they were dealing with.

Michael Roberts was tall and slim, his muscles still in need of development. His dark hair was cropped in a quarter-inch buzz, revealed only because his cover had been knocked off his head when he hit the pavement. His uniform, cleanly pressed and complying strictly with regulations, was stained dark with blood. His youthful face, one that had obviously seen hardship, had survived an abusive father and a painful and disheartening childhood, was etched with shock and pain.

"Why are the legal beagles on site?" one of the NCIS agents asked while shooting the scene with a Navy issue camera.

"This murder relates to one of our current ongoing investigations," Meg said stonily. She kept one eye on Gunny who was talking to a pair of Midshipmen a few yards away, but it was clear that he knew what he was doing so she didn't watch him too closely, trusting that he would get some information while she dealt with NCIS.

"How so?" the agent inquired.

Meg shook her head. "It's our case, Agent Stiles. NCIS is not getting it's claws into this one." She knelt down next to Mikey. The resemblance between the brothers was unmistakable, though Mikey didn't have Bud's 'baby fat'. "Damn it, Bud, what have you gotten us into?" she muttered before standing back up, unable to look at the once handsome face of the younger Roberts brother, now marred by blood spatter from the fatal wound and wounds that, as far as Meg could tell, were consistent with the impact that occurred when Mikey's body hit the pavement.

"Where do you want the body shipped?" the ME asked Meg.

"Bethesda," Gunny said. "Commander Rabb placed a Lieutenant Commander Coulter on call should anything like this happen. Tiner will be calling her now. She will perform the autopsy."

Meg nodded to let the ME know that what the Gunny said was what was to be done and she turned away as the ME's assistants helped him ease Mikey's body onto a clear plastic tarp, wrapping his body tightly before zipping a black body bag up around the morbid package.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" Gunny asked.

"Yes. I'm just not used to the life and death of things anymore. Working in weapons labs for too long, I suppose," Meg admitted, somewhat sheepishly. Crime scenes had never affected her, really. She was used to blood and gore and witnessing the lowest of the low of the human condition. All in a day's work for an investigative official, really. She had seen crime scenes that turned the stomachs of the most stoic of Jarheads, the gruffest of Squids, and barely batted an eyelash. She had been to mass gravesites and barely been affected by the smell of decomposing flesh. Yet this young man, someone she had never met and had only heard a little about, left Meg feeling ill.

Gunny smiled sympathetically.

Not wanting his sympathy, Meg spoke again. "Do you want to deal with the scene or do you want to start with the witnesses?"

"Why don't you take the witnesses," Gunny suggested, "and I'll come join you once things are dealt with here."

Meg knew what he was doing and, if she hadn't been so bothered by the scene, she would have called him on it. But this whole case was getting to her and seeing the aftermath firsthand was too much, so she pretended she didn't catch on to his blatant show of chivalry. "Alright. But remember you came along to help me deal with reticent Jarheads, not to play Gil Grissom, so let NCIS deal with collecting the evidence and have them hand it over to the JAG lab."

"Yes ma'am," Gunny said, the picture of military composure, though Meg could tell he was smirking at her comments.

After handing over command to Gunny and making sure that Mikey's body was going to go directly to Commander Coulter at Bethesda, Meg went to the base CO and spoke with him for a few minutes before being directed to a spare office near the JAG offices that she could use for interviews. She was supplied with files on everyone that was on base at anytime that morning. She was also 'given' a Petty Officer from the JAG offices who was eager to help out and seemed to know pretty much everyone on the base, which helped Meg go through the files before calling in witnesses.

"What about the files on the Annapolis midshipmen?" Meg asked.

"As soon as Midshipmen Roberts was shot Commander Sing called Annapolis for records," Petty Officer Tamara Fabens said as she moved some boxes around to give them a better environment to work in. "They should be arriving anytime now."

Commander Sing was the CO of the JAG section on base. Meg had worked with him before on a case, years earlier, and she knew that he was not the easiest person to work with so she was glad that she hadn't been forced into working in close contact with the man.

"Okay. When they arrive I'll need you to pick them up from the guard station," Meg said to Tamara.

"Yes ma'am," Tamara replied.

Meg's phone rang and she sighed heavily before checking the caller ID. Her heart sped up when she saw who it was. "It's a client. Could you give me a minute?" Meg requested, lying easily. Tamara nodded and excused herself, and, once she was sure she was alone, Meg answered the call.

"Austin," she said, her tone giving away none of her relief. She had been waiting for this call for far too long. She made a mental note to talk to him about keeping to the schedule they had made up.

"_What took you so long?"_

"I needed to wait until I was alone," Meg replied, rolling her eyes. He was always so impatient. "Did you get around to doing what we were talking about earlier?"

"_Of course."_

Meg grinned. That was good news. She was worried that the project would get back-burnered when she got called out of town. "And did it work?" she asked.

"_Just like I said it would. You have to learn to relax, Meg. Everything is going to be fine."_

"You don't know that. We're messing with people's lives here, Vayl. Every step must be executed exactly as laid out," Meg said, her tone firm. She was getting frustrated. Even though she had been waiting for this call for two days she couldn't help but find herself disappointed at the way the conversation was going. It was much easier to deal with Vayl when they were talking face to face. "Get your ass back on track or I swear the next thing I'll do is make sure you spend the rest of your life cleaning out cages at the zoo with your bare hands. Are we clear?"

"_Crystal."_

He was slightly less confident now, and that made Meg feel better. The last thing they could afford was for any of them to get cocky. "Good. Keep me updated," Meg said before hanging up. She dropped her phone onto the table and rubbed her temples.

_TBC..._


End file.
